The Department of Statistics August data indicate that the county’s Malaysia’s inflation remained at 2.0 percent in August 2023.
The inflation was driven by the lower increases in August 2023 for Restaurants and hotels, 4.7 percent (July 2023: 5.0%); Food and non-alcoholic Beverages, 4.1 percent (July 2023: 4.4%) and Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance, 1.7 percent (July 2023: 1.9%). In terms of the general price level, the index point was still at a higher level registering 130.8 as compared to 128.2 in August 2022.
Apart from that, the increase in inflation was also driven by the incline in Miscellaneous Goods & Services (2.4%); Health (2.4%); Education (2.1%); Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (1.8%) and Recreation Services & Culture (1.0%). Meanwhile, Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco inclined marginally at 0.5 percent as of August 2022.
The component of Food at home increased to 2.9 percent contributed by the subgroup of Rice, bread & other cereals, 4.0 percent (July 2023: 4.5%); Milk, cheese & eggs, 4.0 percent (July 2023: 4.3%) and Sugar, jam, honey, chocolate & confectionery, 3.3 percent (July 2023: 3.5%). Meanwhile, the component of Food away from home also slowed to 5.9 percent as compared to 6.2 percent recorded in July 2023.
The monthly headline inflation increased marginally to 0.2 percent as against 0.1 percent in July 2023. The increase was mainly contributed by Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and other Fuels, 0.5 percent (July 2023: 0.0%); Health, 0.5 percent (July 2023: 0.2%) and Restaurants and hotels, 0.3 percent (July 2023: 0.3%). Meanwhile, core inflation rose by 2.5 percent as compared to 2.8 per cent recorded in July 2023.
For inflation at the state level, nine states recorded increases below the national inflation level of 2.0 percent. However, seven states recorded increases above the national inflation level namely Sarawak (3.4%), Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya (2.7%), Perlis (2.4%), Perak (2.3%), Selangor (2.3%), Pahang (2.2%) and Melaka (2.1%).
In comparison to inflation of other countries, inflation in Malaysia (2.0%) was lower than inflation in the Eurozone (5.3%), Philippines (5.3%), Republic of Korea (3.4%), Indonesia (3.3%) and Vietnam (3.0%). However, the rate is higher than Thailand (0.9%) and China (0.1%).
