November's CPI increases 3.3 pct y-o-y
Malaysia's Consumer Price Index (CPI) in November 2021 increased 3.3 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) to 124.0, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
Chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the 3.3 percent rise was influenced by various groups, especially food and non-alcoholic beverages, transport and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels.
Malaysia's Consumer Price Index (CPI) in November 2021 increased 3.3 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) to 124.0, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
Chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the 3.3 percent rise was influenced by various groups, especially food and non-alcoholic beverages, transport and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels.
"The significant increase was attributed to higher prices of raw materials for cooking.
"The price of chicken - the largest component of meat and the main source of protein for Malaysians, increased by 16.7 percent as a result of global higher prices of feed for animals," he said in a statement on the CPI November 2021 report today.
Mohd Uzir said fish prices also recorded an increase, with the average price of Indian Mackerel rising to RM15.57 from RM14.68 a year ago.
Milk, cheese and eggs were up by 4.2 percent y-o-y, while the price of vegetables rose by 3.4 percent y-o-y.
In addition, he said fuel prices remained high (27.6 percent) and electricity costs increased by 34.6 percent after the electricity discount was discontinued in September 2021.
"The discontinuation of electricity discount under the Perlindungan Rakyat dan Pemulihan Ekonomi package in September had an impact on the below RM3,000 income group.
“Although there was a significant increase in transport, food and electricity, the diversification of households’ spending in Malaysia and the various changes in the price of certain goods have indirectly helped ease the current inflation rate,” he said.
Mohd Uzir said during the month, communication services, education fees and toll charges remained unchanged.
“Meanwhile, those that registered a decline in prices were clothing and footwear (-0.4 percent) and vitamins (-1.7 percent)," he said.
The food and non-alcoholic beverages group increased 2.9 percent, following the rise in meat (9.2 percent), oils and fats (6.4 percent), milk, cheese and eggs (4.4 percent) and fish and seafood (3.6 percent).
“Chicken, which was consumed by 86.8 percent of B40 household, increased 15.1 percent in November 2021,” he said.
Rising global prices
Meanwhile, the transport index was 3.5 percentage points higher than the same group of headline inflation and recorded a 16.2 percent y-o-y rise in November 2021.
Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels also went up 2.8 percent (November 2020: -3.2 percent).
As for CPI by states, he noted that all states recorded an increase in November 2021, with nine states surpassing the national CPI rate of 3.3 percent - the highest being Terengganu at 4.3 percent.
Meanwhile, states with the lowest increase in CPI were Sarawak (2.7 percent), Sabah and Labuan (2.4 percent) and Kuala Lumpur (2.4 percent).
Mohd Uzir also said core inflation registered an increase of 0.9 percent y-o-y in November 2021, contributed by the rise in the furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance group (2.6 percent).
He emphasised that the rising inflation was inevitable due to the rising global prices of fuel, food and construction-related material such as steel.
"However, it may be stabilised by the implementation of the Keluarga Malaysia Maximum Price Scheme for 12 food items from Dec 7-31, 2021," he added.
- Bernama
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