KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 3.4 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to 127.4 in June 2022 from 123.2 in June 2021, surpassing the average inflation in Malaysia for the January 2011 to June 2022 period by 1.9 per cent.
Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) chief statistician Datuk Sri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said food inflation increased by 6.1 per cent and remained the main contributor to the rise in inflation during the month.
"Other groups, except communications, also recorded increases, boosting headline inflation to 3.4 per cent.
"Transport increased by 5.4 per cent followed by restaurants and hotels (5 per cent), furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (3.4 per cent), miscellaneous goods and services (2.2 per cent) and recreation services and culture (2.2 per cent)," he said in a statement today.
Mohd Uzir said all subgroups in food and non-alcoholic beverages went up between 2.8 per cent and 11.9 per cent.
Meanwhile, food at home and food away from home rose by 6.1 per cent and 6.6 per cent, respectively, contributing to the increase in food inflation, he said.
Among food away from home that showed increases were roti canai (+10.5 per cent), rice with side dishes (+9.7 per cent), cooked beef (+7.8 per cent) and food made from noodles (+7.0 per cent).
"Chicken, the largest weight in the meat subgroup (46.1 per cent), increased 17.2 per cent, compared with an increase of 13.4 per cent in May 2022.
"The average price of processed chicken in June 2022 rose to RM10.02 per kilogramme from RM8.55 in June 2021," he said, noting that the hike was in line with the increase in global food production inputs such as maize, wheat and soybeans -- major ingredients of chicken feedstuff.
Inflation expanded by 2.8 per cent y-o-y to 126.6 in the second quarter of 2022, and increased 2.5 per cent y-o-y in the first six months of 2022.
At the state level, Mohd Uzir said the highest increase in inflation was recorded by Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya at 8.1 per cent, while Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan and Melaka were the two states with the lowest increase at 2.5 per cent, respectively. -- BERNAMA