KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's inflation rate inclined to 1.9 per cent in October 2024 with the index points stood at 133.4 compared to 130.9 in the same month last year, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said.
It noted that the recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) data shows that October's inflation rose 0.2 per cent in a month due to higher increase in the main groups, including food and beverages (2.3 per cent), along with personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services (3.4 per cent).
However, this was offset by a 2.1 per cent decline in the information and communication group, followed by transport (0.2 per cent), furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (0.1 per cent) as well as recreation, sport and culture (0.1 per cent).
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said food and beverages group, which contributes 29.8 per cent of the total CPI weight, increased from 1.6 per cent in September mainly due to the 1.4 per cent inflation in the expenditure class of meat compared to 0.7 per cent a month before.
Based on data collected by DOSM, the average price of standard chicken in Malaysia for October 2024 was RM10.63 per kilogramme as compared to RM10.02 per kilogramme in the same month last year.
Meanwhile, the average price of standard chicken in Peninsular Malaysia was RM9.68 per kilogramme in October 2024 versus RM9.32 per kilogramme previously.
On state-level inflation rate, Mohd Uzir said most states recorded increases below the national inflation level of 1.9 per cent.
However, he said inflation for four states were above the national inflation level namely Pulau Pinang (3.1 per cent), Pahang (2.7 per cent), Selangor (2.3 per cent) and Sarawak (2.1 per cent).
"All states registered an increase in the inflation of food and beverages. The highest rate was recorded by Selangor at 3.8 per cent, followed by Persekutuan Putrajaya (2.9 per cent), Johor (2.4 per cent), Pulau Pinang (2.4 per cent) and Pahang (2.3 per cent).
"Meanwhile, other states showed an increase below the national inflation of food and beverages of 2.3 per cent in October 2024," he explained.
In comparison with other selected countries, he said Malaysia's inflation was lower than Vietnam (2.9 per cent) and Philippines (2.3 per cent).
However, the rate was higher than Indonesia (1.7 per cent), South Korea (1.3 per cent), Thailand (0.8 per cent) and China (0.3 per cent).