KULALA LUMPUR (Sept 23): Malaysia’s inflation, measured by the consumer price index (CPI), increased 4.7% year-on-year (y-o-y) in August 2022, as the gauge's food and non-alcoholic beverage component remained the main contributor to inflation, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

“As compared to August 2021, Malaysia’s inflation rate in August 2022 increased to 4.7%. The increase was contributed by food and non-alcoholic beverages, which increased by 7.2%,” the DOSM said in a statement on Friday (Sept 23).

August 2022’s 4.7% y-o-y inflation accelerated from July 2022’s 4.4% y-o-y rise, according to the department.

“The increase was driven by food away from home at 8.4%, while food at home increased by 6.4%. 

“However, there were still some food items that recorded a decrease in prices as compared to July 2022, such as chicken (-3.8%), barramundi fish (-2.4%) and vegetables such as cucumber (-4.6%), french beans (-3.6%) and round cabbage (-2.6%),” the Government’s statistics arms said.

Notably, August 2022’s CPI print marked the sixth consecutive month of y-o-y increase since March, as the inflation gauge steadily crept up over the past few months. It grew 4.4% in July, 3.4% in June, 2.8% in May, 2.3% in April, and 2.2% in March.

Nonetheless, the DOSM noted that August 2022’s month-on-month increase of 0.2% was lower than the 0.4% increase seen in July 2022.

“This was mainly contributed by food and non-alcoholic beverages and transport which increased at a slower rate than in the previous month,” it said. 

In comparison to other regions and countries, the DOSM noted that Malaysia’s inflation figure logged for August 2022 was lower than the eurozone’s 9.1% y-o-y, the US (8.3%), Thailand (7.9%), the Philippines (6.3%) and South Korea (5.7%).

“The increase in inflation was attributed to the increase in production input and fuel prices,” it said.