Overview

Malaysia’s inflation increased 1.6 per cent in January 2026

Malaysia’s inflation increased 1.6 per cent in January 2026 with the index points increased to 135.7 from 133.6 in the same month of the previous year. Four groups have recorded higher increases in January 2026 as compared to the previous month, namely Personal Care, Social Protection & Miscellaneous Goods & Services, 6.6 per cent; Education, 3.2 per cent; Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels, 1.2 per cent and Recreation, Sport & Culture, 0.9 per cent. Both Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (2.5%) and Food & Beverages groups (1.5%) increased at the same rate as recorded in the December 2025.

Nevertheless, the slower increase of Insurance & Financial Services, 5.5 per cent; Restaurant & Accommodation Services, 3.0 per cent; Health, 1.4 per cent; Information & Communication, 0.7 per cent and Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance, 0.2 per cent, to a certain extent offset the inflation from increasing further. Besides, the inflation of Clothing & Footwear group remained unchanged in January 2026 as compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, the Transport group registered a downward trend to negative 0.7 per cent in January 2026 as compared to 0.1 per cent in the previous month.

Three states recorded increases above the national inflation level (1.6%) namely Johor (2.1%), Negeri Sembilan (2.0%) and Pahang (1.9%). However, the remainder 13 states increased below and equal to the national inflation rate with Kelantan recorded the lowest inflation (0.3%) in January 2026. All states registered an increase in inflation of Food & Beverages except Kelantan (-0.3%). Five states recorded increases over the national inflation of Food & Beverages (1.5%) in January 2026. The highest increase was recorded by Negeri Sembilan (3.2%), followed by Pahang (2.6%), Johor (2.5%), Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (2.0%) and Melaka (1.7%). Meanwhile, other states showed increases below and equal to the national inflation of Food & Beverages.

The monthly headline inflation in January 2026 registered an increase of 0.1 per cent as compared to 0.3 per cent in December 2025. The groups that recorded increases as compared to previous month were Personal Care, Social Protection & Miscellaneous Goods & Services (1.0%); Education (0.7%); Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (0.3%); Restaurant & Accommodation Services (0.3%) and Recreation, Sport & Culture (0.2%). Meanwhile, three groups registered decreases, namely Transport (-0.4%); Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance (-0.1%) and Information & Communication (-0.1%).

In comparison to inflation in other selected countries, inflation in Malaysia in January 2026 (1.6%) was lower than inflation in Indonesia (3.6%), Viet Nam (2.5%) and Republic of Korea (2.0%). However, the rate was higher than Thailand (-0.7%).

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Baharudin Mohamad
Public Relation Officer
Email: baharudin[at]dosm.gov.my
Phone: 03 8090 4681

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