PUTRAJAYA: The services producer price index (SPPI) continued its upward trend, rising by 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2024 (Q4’24), as compared to 0.3% in the previous quarter, reflecting a rise in services sector pricing.
The Chief Statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said: “The arts, entertainment & recreation index increased by 6.1% as compared to a 5.4% rise in the previous quarter, driven by other entertainment & recreation activities (1.9%). Meanwhile, the accommodation and food & beverage service activities index continued to increase by 3.1% (Q3’24: 2.4%), supported by increases in restaurants and mobile food service activities (3.4%) and beverage service activities (3.2%) indices. The education index rose by 0.8%, maintaining the same pace as in the previous quarter, due to secondary education (1.7%). Additionally, both health and professional indices saw an incline of 0.4%.”
Conversely, he added the transportation index posted a decrease of 2.4% (Q3’24: -2%), mainly due to the air passenger transportation index (-9.5%).
Similarly, he said the real estate activities index recorded a slight decrease of 0.2%, while the information & communication index edged down by 0.1%, influenced by a decline in the wireless telecommunications activities (-0.2%).
“On a quarter-on-quarter basis, SPPI increased by 0.3%, as compared to 0.1% in the third quarter of 2024. This was driven by increases in accommodation and food & beverage service activities (1.1%) and arts, entertainment & recreation (0.9%) indices. Additionally, both professional and health indices saw a modest rise of 0.2%, while the education index edged up by 0.1%. Meanwhile, information & communication and real estate activities indices remained unchanged. However, the transportation index experienced a decline of 0.6%,” said Mohd Uzir.
He also summarised that the SPPI posted a marginal increase of 0.7% in 2024, as compared to a 2.1% rise in 2023.
The increase was primarily driven by the arts, entertainment & recreation index (6.7%), followed by accommodation and food & beverage service activities (2.6%) and education (0.8%) indices.
Other subsectors that recorded an increase included health and real estate indices, both rising by 0.3%, while the professional index rose by 0.2%. In contrast, the transportation index declined by 1.4%, whereas the information & communication index remained unchanged.