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KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s inflation rate has eased to 4.0% in October 2022 compared to the 4.5% recorded in September 2022, said the Statistics Department (DOSM).
However, the rate still surpassed the nation’s average inflation for the January 2011-October 2022 period of 2.0%, DOSM said in a statement today.
Chief Statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the consumer price index for October 2022 increased by 4.0% year-on-year to 128.6 from 123.7 in October 2021.
He said the inflation rate in Malaysia during the month was lower than the inflation in the Philippines (7.7%), Thailand (6.0%), Indonesia (5.7%), and South Korea (5.7%).
“The Eurozone’s inflation jumped to 10.7% in October 2022 from 9.9% in the previous month driven by energy inflation (41.9%); food, alcohol and tobacco (13.1%); non-energy industrial goods (6.0%) and services (4.4%),” he said.
The inflation rate in the United States eased to 7.7% in October 2022 from 8.2% in September 2022.
At home, the moderate increase in the October inflation rate was driven by the slower increase for the housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels group to 1.5% from 4.0% in September 2022.
“This slower increase was due to the absence of base effects attributed to the discontinuation of electricity discounts under the National People’s Well-Being and Economic Recovery Package (Pemulih) from July to September 2021,” Uzir said.
The chief statistician said inflation for the food and non-alcoholic beverages group increased by 7.1% versus the 6.8% recorded in September 2022.
“There are food items that showed a slower growth momentum as compared to September 2022. Among the subgroups were vegetables, which decreased to 4.8% from 6.3%, and oils and fats decreased 2.6% from 3.8% in September 2022,” he said.
Uzir said apart from the food group, all other groups continued to record increases except for communication, which remained unchanged compared to the same month last year.
The restaurants and hotels group increased by 6.8%, followed by transport (5.2%); furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (4.1%); and recreation services and culture (3.4%).
“In addition, miscellaneous goods and services grew 2.4%; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels were up 1.5%; and education was 1.4% higher.
“Both health and alcoholic beverages and tobacco groups increased 1.0% and 0.8%, respectively, while clothing and footwear inclined marginally 0.4% against October 2021,” he said.
Uzir said for the January to October 2022 period, inflation increased by 3.3% as compared to the same period of the previous year, mainly attributed to food and non-alcoholic beverages (5.5%), transport (4.6%), and restaurants and hotels (4.6%).
On a monthly basis, the inflation in October 2022 recorded 0.2% as compared to 0.1% in September 2022, contributed by the food and non-alcoholic beverages (0.5%), while restaurants and hotels and miscellaneous goods and services groups increased by 0.3%, respectively.
“A marginal increase in transport of 0.1% also contributed to the increase,” he added.
At the state level, Uzir said three states showed an increase above the national inflation level of 4.0%. The states are Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya (7.6%), Selangor (4.9%) and Sarawak (4.3%).
Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan recorded the lowest increase of 2.3%.
Uzir said all states registered an increase in the inflation of food and non-alcoholic beverages, with the highest increase recorded by Selangor (8.8%) followed by Sarawak (7.8%), Penang and Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya at 7.6%, respectively, Johor (7.3%) and Sabah (7.2%).
“Other states showed an increase below the national inflation of food & non-alcoholic beverages rate of 7.1% in October 2022.
“Inflation for the income group below RM3,000 increased 3.9% from 124.3 in October 2021 to 129.1 in October 2022, driven by restaurants and hotels at 7.5%, followed by the food and non-alcoholic beverages group at 6.8%; furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (4.4%); recreation services and culture (3.4%); transport (3.0%) and miscellaneous goods and services (2.1%),” he added. – Bernama, November 25, 2022