KUALA LUMPUR: The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures headline inflation, increased 1% year-on-year to 122.3 in December 2019 from 121.1 in the same month of the preceding year, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said today the increase in the overall index was driven by the index of miscellaneous goods and services (2.4%), food and non-alcoholic beverages (1.7%), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (1.7%), education (1.7%), communication (1.5%), furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (1.4%) and health (1.4%).
“On a monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.2% compared to November 2019, mainly supported by the index of food and non-alcoholic beverages (0.5%) and restaurants and hotels (0.2%),” he said in a statement.
On a quarterly basis, he said, the CPI in the fourth quarter of 2019 rose 1% to 122.1 as compared to 120.9 in the same quarter of the previous year and increased 0.3% compared to the third quarter of 2019.
Overall, he said the CPI for 2019 registered an increase of 0.7% over 2018.
Meanwhile, Mohd Uzir said three states – Kuala Lumpur (1.5%), Selangor and Putrajaya (1.4%) and Johor (1.1%) surpassed the national CPI rate of 1.0% in December 2019 versus the same month in the preceding year.
“All states registered an increase in the index of food and non-alcoholic beverages, with the highest increase recorded by Johor (2.5%), followed by Kuala Lumpur (2.1%) and Selangor and Putrajaya (2.1%), surpassing the national index of 1.7%for the group in December 2019,” he added. – Jan 22, 2020 Bernama
