KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 — Malaysia’s inflation rate increased to 2.0% in May, up from 1.8% in April, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM). This rise was primarily driven by a 3.2% hike in the prices of housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, as well as restaurant and accommodation services. Additional increases were recorded in sectors such as education (1.5%), transport (0.9%), personal care and social protection (3.0%), health (2.2%), recreation and culture (1.9%), and food and beverages (1.8%).
However, prices for clothing and footwear, and insurance and financial services saw slight declines of 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively. DOSM noted that the monthly headline inflation rose by 0.3% from April to May, driven mainly by the aforementioned sectors. Despite these increases, prices for furnishings, household equipment, routine maintenance, health, and financial services remained stable, helping to moderate overall inflation.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile items like fresh food and regulated prices, remained steady at 1.9% in May, the same rate as in April. This was largely driven by restaurant and accommodation services, and personal care, which rose by 3.3% and 3.0%, respectively. The DOSM highlighted that Malaysia’s inflation rate remains lower than that of South Korea, Indonesia, and the Philippines, with South Korea at 2.7%, Indonesia at 2.8%, and the Philippines at 3.9%. Thailand’s inflation rate was 1.5% last month.
