KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s headline inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), moderated to 1.8 % in October 2023, the lowest since April 2021, with the CPI at 130.9 points against 128.6 in the same month a year ago, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the rise was driven by a lower increase in the food and non-alcoholic beverages group at 3.6 % against 3.9 % in September 2023, the furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance group at 1.4 % (September 2023: 1.5 %) and miscellaneous goods and services at 2.3 % against 2.5 % the previous month.
Meanwhile, the other main groups that contributed to a lower rise were the alcoholic beverages and tobacco group (0.6 %) and clothing and footwear (0.0 % against increases of 0.7 % and 0.1 %, respectively, in September 2023.
He said in a statement today that the food and non-alcoholic beverages group contributed 29.5 % to the total CPI weight.
The food at home component rose 2.1 % against 2.5 % recorded in the previous month, mainly driven by the subgroup of rice, bread and other cereals at 3.6 %(September 2023: 4.1 per cent), while the food away from home component increased slower to 5.6 % versus 5.9 % in September 2023.
Meanwhile, October’s core inflation, which excludes food and energy, increased slower at 2.4 % (September 2023: 2.5 %) but surpassed the overall national inflation rate of 1.8 %, with the highest increase recorded in food and non-alcoholic beverages at 4.8 %.
Malaysia’s October headline inflation is lower than the Philippines which is at 4.9 %, South Korea (3.8 %), Vietnam (3.6 %) and Indonesia’s 2.6 %.
