Malaysia’s inflation at 1.9% in Oct 2024

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s inflation rate for October 2024 has increased to 1.9 per cent, up from 1.8 per cent in September this year, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).

Meanwhile, the consumer price index (CPI) for October 2024 rose to 133.4, compared to 130.9 in the same period last year.

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin attributed the rise in inflation to higher increases in the main groups of food and beverages (2.3 per cent) and personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services (3.4 per cent).

Meanwhile, restaurant and accommodation services (2.8 per cent); recreation, sport and culture (2.0 per cent); health (1.4 per cent); transport (0.7 per cent) and furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (0.5 per cent) increased at a slower rate.

“In contrast, inflation for information and communication decreased to -1.7 per cent in October 2024 (September 2024: 0.4 per cent), driven by a decline in the main subgroup of information and communication services at – 1.8 per cent (September 2024: 0.8 per cent),“ he said in a statement on Consumer Price Index (CPI) for October 2024.

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Clothing and footwear remained in negative territory and posted -0.2 per cent, while, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (3.1 per cent); education (1.5 per cent); alcoholic beverages and tobacco (0.8 per cent) and insurance and financial services (0.5 per cent) increased at the same rate as the previous month.

According to Mohd Uzir, inflation in the transport sector eased to 0.7 per cent in October 2024, down from 1.1 per cent in September 2024, primarily due to slower growth in the cost of operating personal transport equipment.

Among the items that recorded a lower increase was diesel at 15.0 per cent (September 2024: 16.7 per cent). In October 2024, the average diesel price in Peninsular Malaysia was RM2.95 per litre compared to RM2.15 per litre in October 2023 (September 2024: RM3.04).

In addition, the average price of unleaded petrol RON97 in October 2024 decreased to RM3.19 per litre as against RM3.47 per litre in October 2023(September 2024: RM3.28), he added.

Mohd Uzir noted that inflation for four states was above the national inflation level namely Pulau Pinang (3.1 per cent), Pahang (2.7 per cent), Selangor (2.3 per cent) and Sarawak (2.1 per cent).

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On monthly comparison, Mohd Uzir said the inflation for October increased to 0.2 per cent against in September 2024, driven by the increase in the main groups of food and beverages (0.8 per cent), followed by personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services and education that recorded an increase of 0.2 per cent in October 2024 respectively.

“These increases were partially offset by a decline in the information and communication group (-2.1 per cent); transport (-0.2 per cent); furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (-0.1 per cent) and recreation, sport and culture (-0.1 per cent).

“Meanwhile, core inflation which excludes volatile items, held steady at 1.8 per cent in October 2024 as compared to September 2024,“ he noted.

In comparison to inflation in other selected countries, inflation in Malaysia (1.9 per cent) was lower than inflation in Vietnam (2.9 per cent) and the Philippines (2.3 per cent), however, the rate was higher than in Indonesia (1.7 per cent), South Korea (1.3 per cent), Thailand (0.8 per cent) and China (0.3 per cent), he added.