CPI up 1.0 per cent in December last year

KUALA LUMPUR: The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures headline inflation, increased one per cent 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 the increase in the overall index was driven by the index of miscellaneous goods and services (2.4 per cent), food and non-alcoholic beverages (1.7 per cent), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (1.7 per cent), education (1.7 per cent), communication (1.5 per cent), furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (1.4 per cent) and health (1.4 per cent).

“On a monthly basis, CPI rose 0.2 per cent as compared to November 2019, mainly supported by the index of food and non-alcoholic beverages (0.5 per cent) and restaurants and hotels (0.2 per cent),” he said in a statement yesterday.

On a quarterly basis, he said the CPI in the fourth quarter of 2019 rose one per cent to 122.1 as compared to 120.9 in the same quarter of the previous year and increased 0.3 per cent as compared to the third quarter of 2019.

Overall, he said the CPI for 2019 registered an increase of 0.7 per cent as compared to last year.

Meanwhile, Mohd Uzir said three states, namely the Federal Territory (FT) of Kuala Lumpur (1.5 per cent), Selangor and FT of Putrajaya (1.4 per cent) and Johor (1.1 per cent) surpassed the national CPI rate of 1.0 per cent 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 per cent), followed by Kuala Lumpur (2.1 per cent) and Selangor and Putrajaya (2.1 per cent), surpassing the national index of 1.7 per cent for the group in December 2019,” he added. — Bernama

On a monthly basis, CPI rose 0.2 per cent as compared to November 2019, mainly supported by the index of food and nonalcoholic beverages (0.5 per cent) and restaurants and hotels (0.2 per cent). Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin