Malaysia's inflation continues to increase at a
slower rate of 1.5 per cent in November 2023
Malaysia's inflation continues to increase at a slower rate of 1.5 per
cent in November 2023 with the index points recorded at 130.9 as against 129.0
in the same month of the previous year. The increase in the inflation was driven
by the lower increases in Restaurants & Hotels, 4.3 per cent (October 2023: 4.6%); Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages group, 2.6 per cent
(October 2023: 3.6%) and Health, 2.3 per cent (October 2023: 2.4%).
The slower increase in inflation for Restaurants & Hotels to 4.3
per cent (October 2023: 4.6%) mainly driven by both subgroups of Expenditure in
restaurants and cafes, 4.3 per cent (October 2023: 4.5%) and Accommodation
services, 4.2 per cent (October 2023: 5.1%). Other than that, inflation for
Health recorded an increase 2.3 per cent (October 2023: 2.4%) mainly due to incline of subgroups of Outpatients services, 3.6 per cent (October 2023: 3.7%).
Inflation for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages group increased by 2.6
per cent (October 2023: 3.6%). The component of Food at home recorded an
increase increased 1.4 per cent (October 2023: 2.1%) mainly driven by the
subgroup of Rice, bread & other cereals 3.1 per cent (October 2023: 3.6%).
This was followed by Milk, cheese & eggs (2.9%) and Fruits (2.8%).
Meanwhile, the component of Food away from home increased slower to 3.9 per
cent as compared to 5.6 per cent registered in October 2023.
In addition, the monthly headline inflation remained unchanged in November 2023 (0.0%) as compared to October 2023 (0.1%). However, a few main groups recorded an increase on a monthly basis which are Miscellaneous
Goods & Services (0.4%), Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels
(0.2%) and Health (0.2%). Meanwhile, the core inflation increased 2.0 per cent
(October 2023: 2.4%), but it still surpassed the overall national inflation
rate (1.5%).
For inflation at the state level, most of the states recorded increases
below the national inflation level of 1.5 per cent. However, five states recorded
increases above the national inflation level namely Wilayah Persekutuan
Putrajaya (2.3%), Sarawak (2.0%), Perak (1.9%), Pulau Pinang (1.8%) and
Selangor (1.7%).
In comparison to inflation of other countries, inflation in Malaysia
(1.5%) was lower than inflation in the Philippines (4.1%), Vietnam (3.5%),
Republic of Korea (3.3%) and Indonesia (2.9%). However, the rate is higher than Thailand (-0.4%) and China (-0.5%).
