Malaysia inflation up 2% in May, highest in eight months

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia’s inflation edged up 2 per cent year on year in May, on the back of higher utility charges and dining out expenses, a report by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) indicated on June 25.

The final figure for inflation in May is the highest in eight months, surpassing April’s 1.8 per cent and outpacing the forecast of 1.9 per cent made by a group of economists in a recent Reuters poll.

The country’s inflation had stayed at 1.8 per cent for three consecutive months since February.

Core inflation, meanwhile, rose 1.9 per cent in May, the same growth rate as the previous month.

For the first five months of 2024, inflation rate rose 1.8 per cent, compared to 3.4 per cent for the corresponding period last year.

The DOSM report noted that the prices of 331 out of 573 – or nearly 58 per cent – of items in the consumer price index (CPI) went up in May. Among these, the prices of 320 items saw prices increase less than 10 per cent, and prices of 11 items rose by more than 10 per cent.

Prices of food and beverages, which constitute nearly 30 per cent of the total CPI, recorded a slower increase of 1.8 per cent in May from the year before.

Prices of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels – making up 23.2 per cent of the total CPI – increased 3.2 per cent in May.

Restaurant and accommodation services, although only weighted 3.4 per cent of the total CPI, saw an increase of 3.2 per cent.

Malaysia’s inflation rate in May was lower than several other Asia-Pacific countries, with the Philippines reporting one of the higher rates in the region at 3.9 per cent, South Korea at 2.7 per cent, and Indonesia at 2.8 per cent.

The euro zone experienced inflation of 2.6 per cent, and US inflation stood at 3.3 per cent in May. THE BUSINESS TIMES