MALAYSIA’S June 2022 Consumer Price Index (CPI) spiked 3.4% to 127.4 against 123.2 in the same month of the preceding year.
The increase surpassed the average inflation in Malaysia for the period January 2011 to June 2022 (1.9%), according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
“Food index increased 6.1% and remained as the main contributor to the rise in the inflation during the month of June 2022,” chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin pointed out in a media statement.
“Meanwhile, other groups except communications also recorded increases and led headline inflation to 3.4%. Transport rose 5.4% followed by restaurants & hotels (5%); furnishings, household equipment & routine household maintenance (3.4%); miscellaneous goods & services (2.2%) and recreation services & culture (2.2%).”
Elaborating further on the food index, Mohd Uzir said all subgroups in food & non-alcoholic beverages recorded increases between 2.8% and 11.9%.
“Meanwhile, food at home and food away from home inclined 6.1% and 6.65 respectively, contributing to the increase in food inflation,” he observed. “Among food away from home that showed increases were roti canai (10.5%), rice with side dishes (9.7%), cooked beef (7.8%) and noodles-based food (7%).”
Meanwhile, chicken which is the largest weight in the subgroup of meat (46.1%) rose 17.2% after rising 13.4% in May 2022.
“The average price of processed chicken in June 2022 was RM10.02/kg as compared to RM8.55 in June 2021,” revealed Mohd Uzir.
“The increase in chicken prices is in line with the increase in global food production inputs such as maize (14.8%), wheat (60.9%) and soybean (19.9%) which are the largest composition in the preparation of chicken feedstuff.”
Additionally, pork also recorded an increase of 14.6% from 10.2% in the previous month. This was contributed by the rise in the price of animal feed. Moreover, the spread of African swine fever has also affected pork supply.
More broadly, inflation for 2Q 2022 inclined 2.8% to 126.6 as compared to 123.1 in the same quarter of 2021. On a quarterly basis, inflation inclined 1.1% from 0.9% in 1Q 2022. Meanwhile, inflation for the period of January to June 2022 increased 2.5% as compared to the same period of the previous year.
Drawing comparison, Mohd Uzir said the Eurozone posted an inflation rate of 8.6% in June 2022, up from 8.1% the month before. This was driven by the inflation of energy (41.9%); food, alcohol & tobacco (8.9%); non-energy industrial goods (4.3%) and services (3.4%). Elsewhere, the inflation rate in the US rose 9.1% in June 2022 (May 2022: 8.6%).
In comparison to selected countries in the Asia Pacific region, Malaysia’s inflation rate (3.4%) was higher than China (2.5%) but lower than Thailand (7.7%), the Philippines (6.1%), South Korea (6%) and Indonesia (4.4%).
Meanwhile, among the countries which recorded double-digit increases were Argentina (64%), Sri Lanka (58.9%) and Pakistan (21.3%). – July 22, 2022
