Overview

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

The overall index for CPI rose by 3.5 per cent to 120.9 in December 2017 from 116.8 in the corresponding month of the preceding year. Among the major groups which recorded increases were the indices for Transport (+11.5 per cent), Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+4.1 per cent), Restaurants and Hotels (+2.6 per cent), Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance (+2.4 per cent), Health (+2.3 per cent) and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+2.2 per cent). Meanwhile, on a monthly basis, CPI increased 0.1 per cent in December 2017. (Table 1)

Chart 1: Consumer Price Index: Index Number for Overall and Selected Main Groups

The index of transport group showed a significant increase of 11.5 per cent on a year-on-year basis in December 2017, after rising 10.8 per cent in November 2017. The average price of 1 litre of RON95 petrol was RM2.27 in December 2017 as compared to RM1.90 in December 2016. As for RON97, the average price increased to RM2.55 in December 2017 as compared to RM2.25 in December 2016. Fuels & lubricants for personal transport equipment accounted for 7.8 per cent of the CPI weights.

The index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages which accounted 30.2 per cent in the CPI weights, increased 4.1 per cent in December 2017. The increase was driven by food sub-group index which comprised of Fish & Seafood (+6.9 per cent), Meat (+3.6 per cent), Fruits (+3.0 per cent) and Vegetables (+2.5 per cent).  As for Food Away From Home index, it continued to rise in December 2017, an increase of 5.3 per cent.

Chart 2: Consumer Price Index: Annual Percentage Change for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages

Among the index of food items which recorded notable increases in December 2017 as compared to the same period of last year were Long Beans (+19.3 per cent), Cuttlefish (+13.5 per cent), Spinach (+10.2 per cent), Choy Sum (+7.9 per cent), Indian Mackerel (Fish)(+7.6 per cent), Hardtail Scad (Fish)(+6.1 per cent), Prawn (+4.7 per cent), Chicken (+4.3 per cent) and Spanish Mackerel (Fish) (+3.6 per cent). Meanwhile, decreases were registered in the index of some food items such as Round Cabbage (-14.7 per cent) and Watermelon (-2.1 per cent).

In terms of overall CPI, four states surpassed the national CPI rate of 3.5 per cent namely Johor, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan and Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya.

Chart 3: Consumer Price Index: Annual Percentage Change for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages by State

The increase in the index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages was reflected in most states in Malaysia. Five states recorded higher increases for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages index above the national index level for December 2017 compared with the corresponding month in 2016. The index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages rose 5.0  per cent in Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, 4.6 per cent in Melaka, 4.5 per cent in Johor, 4.3 per cent in Sabah & Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan and 4.2 per cent in Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya.

On a monthly basis, the index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages increased 0.7 per cent to 130.8 in December 2017. Meanwhile, the index for Non-Food decreased 0.2 per cent in December 2017 compared with the preceding month.

Based on a seasonally adjusted term, the overall CPI for December 2017 increased 0.1 per cent as compared to November 2017. (Table 1)

Core inflation rose 2.2 per cent in December 2017 compared with the same month of the previous year. Among the major groups which influenced the higher core rate were price increases of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+3.8 per cent), Restaurants & Hotels (+2.6 per cent), Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+2.5 per cent), Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance (+2.4 per cent), Health (+2.3 per cent) and Transport (+2.1 per cent). (Table 3)

CPI changes for the period January – December 2017/2016

CPI for the period January to December 2017 registered an increase of 3.7 per cent compared with the same period last year. The index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages was the main contributor to the rise in CPI for the period January to December 2017, registering an increase of 4.0 per cent. The increase was contributed by the index for Food Away From Home (+4.8 per cent) and Food At Home (+3.7 per cent). While, the index for Coffee, Tea, Cocoa & Non-Alcoholic Beverages decreased 0.3 per cent. Among the subgroups of Food At Home which showed significant increases during this period as shown in Table 2 were Oils & Fats (+13.3 per cent), Fish & Seafood (+6.7 per cent), Vegetables (+4.0 per cent), Fruits (+3.4 per cent) and Meat (+3.1 per cent).

Other major groups which contributed to the rise in CPI during this period were Transport (+13.2 per cent), Health (+2.5 per cent), Restaurants & Hotels (+2.5 per cent), Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+2.2 per cent) and Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance (+2.1 per cent).

Core inflation, which excludes most volatile items of fresh food, as well as administered prices of goods and services recorded changes ranging from 2.2 per cent to 2.6 per cent in the period January to December 2017 compared with the same period of the previous year.

Table 1: Consumer Price Index for Main Groups, Malaysia (2010=100)

Table 2: Consumer Price Index for Sub-Groups of Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, Malaysia (2010=100)

Table 3: Headline CPI and Core Index by Main Groups, Malaysia (2010=100)

Annex1

Average Price for Selected Items in Malaysia, December 2017 (RM)

Released By:

DATO' SRI DR. MOHD UZIR MAHIDIN
CHIEF STATISTICIAN MALAYSIA
DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS, MALAYSIA
24 January 2018

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