PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.2% to 118.2 in January 2017 from 114.5 in the corresponding period last year, with a 1.1% increase on a monthly basis.
The major groups which recorded highest increases in indices were transport at 8.3% and food and non-alcoholic beverages at 4%, followed by recreation services and culture at 3.2%, according to a report by the Statistics Department.
The CPI is an index which measures the variation in prices paid by consumers for retail goods.
The transport group index showed the most significant increase, at 8.3% on a year-on-year basis in January 2017, after falling 0.6% and 1.5% in December 2016 and November 2016, respectively.
“In January 2017, one litre of RON95 petrol was priced at an average of RM2.10, an increase from RM1.85 in January last year.
“On the other hand, RON97 was averagely priced at RM2.40 in January 2017, as compared to RM2.25 last January,” the department said.
The index for food and non-alcoholic beverages, which accounted for 30.2% in the CPI weights, was fuelled by food sub-groups like oils and fats at 37.9%, vegetables at 7.8%, fish and seafood at 6.1% as well as fruit at 2.1%.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages increase in index was reflected in most states in Malaysia, particularly highly urbanised states such as Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Putrajaya, Penang, Johor and Malacca.
Furthermore, core inflation rose 2.3% in January 2017 from a year ago due to a 3.3% increase in transport and also a 3.3% rise in food and non-alcoholic beverages.