KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 — The inflation rate for December moderated to 1.7 per cent, with the index points at 133.4 as against 131.2 in December 2023, according to the Statistics Department.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the increase in inflation in December was driven by a slower gain in the main groups of personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services (3.2 per cent), recreation, sport and culture (1.7 per cent), health (1.1 per cent) and furnishings, and household equipment and routine household maintenance (0.4 per cent).
He said inflation for restaurant and accommodation services and food and beverages grew at a higher rate of 2.9 per cent and 2.7 per cent compared to 2.8 per cent and 2.6 per cent, respectively, in November.
He said inflation for information and communication continued to fall to negative 5.4 per cent in December (November: -3.9 per cent).
“Clothing and footwear remained at a negative territory and posted negative 0.5 per cent (November: -0.3 per cent).
“Meanwhile, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (3.2 per cent), education (1.5 per cent), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (0.8 per cent), insurance and financial services (0.5 per cent), and transport (0.4 per cent) increased at the same rate as the previous month,” he said in a statement today.
Uzir said most states logged inflation rates below the national level, except for five — Penang (2.6 per cent), Pahang (2.3 per cent), Selangor (2 per cent), Johor (1.8 per cent) and Sarawak (1.8 per cent).
He said the 2024 inflation rate was 1.8 per cent, marking a two-year consecutive decline in inflation since 2022 (3.3 per cent).
He noted that the overall monthly inflation for December increased by 0.1 per cent against November.
“Inflation for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024 increased 1.8 per cent (Q3: 1.9 per cent).
“As for quarter-on-quarter comparison, Malaysia’s inflation showed an increase of 0.2 per cent (Q3: 0.4 per cent),” he said.
Meanwhile, Uzir said core inflation was lower at 1.6 per cent in December, compared with 1.8 per cent in November.
“In comparison to inflation in other selected countries, inflation in Malaysia (1.7 per cent) was lower than inflation in Vietnam (2.9 per cent), the Philippines (2.9 per cent) and the Republic of Korea (1.9 per cent).
“However, the rate was higher than Indonesia (1.6 per cent), Thailand (1.2 per cent) and China (0.1 per cent),” he added.
— Bernama
