Malaysia’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) for 2011 increased 3.2 percent to 103.2 compared with that of 100.0 in the previous year.

The CPI for December 2011 registered an increase of 3.0 percent from 101.2 to 104.2 when compared to the same month in 2010 and increased by 0.1 percent when compared with November 2011, the Statistics Department in its latest released today.

The index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Non-Food for December 2011 showed increases of 5.1 and 2.1 percent respectively as compared to the same month in 2010.

For the January-December 2011 period, the index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Non-Food increased by 4.8 and 2.5 percent respectively.    

Comparison made to the previous month also showed an increasing trend of 0.3 and 0.1 percent respectively for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Non-Food.

The department said the 3.2 percent increase in the CPI was brought about by increases observed in the indices of all the main groups except those of Communication (-0.3 percent) and Clothing & Footwear (-0.2 percent).

Notable increases among these main groups with high weights were Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+4.8 percent ); Transport (+4.4 percent) and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+1.8 percent).

Other increases were Restaurants & Hotels (+5.9 percent); Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+4.6 percent); Health (+2.7 percent); Miscellaneous Goods & Services (+2.4 percent); Education (+2.2 per cent); Recreation Services & Culture (+2.0 percent) and Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance (+1.8 percent).

- Bernama