The increase of 0.3 per cent in the index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages in May 2016 compared with the previous month was due to the result of an increase in the index for Food At Home by 0.4 per cent, Food Away From Home (+0.2 per cent) and Coffee, Tea, Cocoa & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+0.1 per cent) (Table 2).

 

Among the index of food items which recorded notable increases in May 2016 compared with the previous month were Red Chillies (+21.6 per cent); Cucumber (+20.3 per cent); Green Chillies (+17.3 per cent); Choy Sam (+13.8 per cent); Kai Lan (+8.0 per cent); Carrot (+7.6 per cent) and Spinach (+6.9 per cent)?.

Meanwhile, decreases were registered in the index of some food items such as Tomatoes (-8.2 per cent); Watermelon (-4.7 per cent); Short Mackerel (Fish) (-4.6 per cent); Indian Mackerel (Fish) (-3.9 per cent); Shallots (-3.7 per cent); Round Scad (Fish) (-2.6 per cent) and Hardtail Scad (Fish) (-2.4 per cent).

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

 

CPI changes for the period January – May 2016 / 2015

CPI for the period January to May 2016 registered an increase of 2.9 per cent as compared to the same period last year. The increase was led by increases in the main groups with high expenditure percentages: Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+4.4 per cent) and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+2.7 per cent). Other increases were Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+22.0 per cent); Miscellaneous Goods & Services (+4.2 per cent); Restaurants & Hotels (+3.8 per cent); Furnishing, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance (+3.6 per cent) and Health (+3.4 per cent).

The increase of 4.4 per cent in the index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages was the result of increases for Food At Home (+4.5 per cent); Food Away From Home (+4.4 per cent) and Coffee, Tea, Cocoa & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+2.2 per cent). Among the subgroups of Food At Home which showed significant increases during this period as shown in Table 2 were Vegetables (+9.6 per cent); Fish & Seafood  (+7.5 per cent); Fruits (+6.4 per cent); Sugar, Jam, Honey, Chocolate & Confectionery (+2.8 per cent) and Meat (+2.7 per cent).

Core Inflation 

Core inflation, which excludes most volatile items of fresh food, as well as administered prices of goods and services rose 2.1 per cent in May 2016 compared to the same period of the previous year (Table 3). Among factors contributing to a higher core rate were price increases for Transport (+3.4 per cent); Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+2.7 per cent); Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+2.6 per cent); Restaurants & Hotels (+2.5 per cent) and Miscellaneous Goods & Services (+2.5 per cent).

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