KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s consumer price index (CPI) continued to ease in June to 2.4%, the lowest level recorded so far in 2023, according to the Malaysian Statistics Department (DoSM).
Inflation, which came in at 2.8% year-on-year in May, has shown a moderating trend since January when it stood at 3.7%.
In a statement today, chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the slower increment in June was driven by the lower increase in components such as restaurants and hotels (5.4%), food and non-alcoholic beverages (4.7%) and furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (2.3%).
He said the food and non-alcoholic beverages group, which contributes 29.5% of total CPI weight, increased at a more moderate rate of 4.7% (May 2023: 5.9%).
The component of food at home recorded a slower growth of 3.2% last month compared to 4.3% in May 2023, while the food away from home component’s increase slowed to 6.8% from 8.1% previously.
On state-level inflation, Uzir said 10 states recorded increases below the national inflation level of 2.4%, with the Labuan federal territory posting the lowest increase of 1.2% in June.
“However, six states recorded increases above the national inflation level, namely Sarawak (3.0%), Pahang (2.9%), Putrajaya (2.8%), Selangor (2.7%), Perak (2.7%) and Melaka (2.7%),” he said.
In comparison to selected countries in the Asia-Pacific region, he said, the inflation rate in Malaysia was lower than that in South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Meanwhile, inflation in the eurozone increased at a slower rate of 5.5% in June 2023 versus 6.1% in the previous month, while inflation in the United States eased to 3.0% against 4.0% in May. – Bernama, July 24, 2023
