Overview

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 1.3 per cent in February 2020 to 122.4 as against 120.8 in the same month of the preceding year. The increase in the overall index was driven by the index of Miscellaneous Goods & Services (2.5%), Transport (2.4%), Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (1.6%) and Communication (1.5%). (Chart 1)

On a monthly basis, CPI remained unchanged at 122.4 as compared to January 2020. Meanwhile, the CPI for the period of January to February 2020 registered an increase of 1.4 per cent as compared to the same period last year.

Chart 1: Percentage Change of Consumer Price Index by Main Group

Index for Subgroup Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages

The index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages increased 0.8 per cent in February 2020 as compared to the same month of the previous year. The increase was attributed by the subgroup of Vegetables (6.3%), Food Products not elsewhere classified (2.1%) and Rice, Bread & Other Cereals (0.7%).

Among the index of goods which recorded price increases in most states were Small Onion (33.8%), Garlic (33.4%) and Big Onion (21.8%).

The index for Food Away From Home increased 1.6 per cent in February 2020 as against February 2019. The increase in price of Nasi Lemak, Rice with Side Dishes and Fried Rice contributed to the increase of the index of this subgroup. (Table 1)

Table 1: Percentage Change of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages Subgroup

Consumer Price Index by States 

Four states namely Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya (1.6%), Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (1.5%), Pahang (1.5%) and Johor (1.4%) surpassed the national CPI rate of 1.3 per cent in February 2020 as compared to the same month in the preceding year.

All states except Melaka registered an increase in the index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages. The highest increase was recorded by Johor (1.3%) followed by Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya (1.2%), Pulau Pinang (1.0%) and Perak (0.9%) and it surpassed the national index of 0.8 per cent for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages in February 2020. (Chart 2)

Chart 2: Percentage Change of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages by State

Core Index

Core index rose 1.3 per cent in February 2020 as compared to the same month of the previous year. Among the major groups which influenced the increase were Miscellaneous Goods & Services (2.5%), Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (1.9%), Communication (1.5%), Education (1.3%) and Health (1.3%).

Core index excludes most volatile items of fresh food as well as administered prices of goods and services. (Table 2)

Table 2: Percentage Change of Headline CPI, Seasonally Adjusted Index and
Core Index by Main Group

Annex 1: Average Price for Selected Items in Malaysia, February 2020 (RM)

Released By:

DATO' SRI DR. MOHD UZIR MAHIDIN
CHIEF STATISTICIAN MALAYSIA
DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS, MALAYSIA
 DrUzir_Mahidin      Dr_Uzir

25 March 2020

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