BUTTERWORTH: The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) has released its inaugural Cost of Living Indicators (CLI) 2023 report as it celebrated its Diamond Jubilee here today (Nov 2).
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the report encompassed 15 publications, including one on the nation and 14 others on states and Federal Territories for last year.
He said the CLI covered in this publication included the Basic Expenditure of Decent Living (PAKW) and the Cost of Living Index (IKSH).
He said PAKW was analysed based on demographic details, which included household characteristics, household size as well as location of residence.
"PAKW is developed by DOSM to assess the value cost for decent living. The development of PAKW began in 2018, considering household spending patterns based on the Household Income and Expenditure Survey," he said.
According to Uzir, PAKW referred to the amount of monthly consumption expenditure required by households/individuals to achieve a decent life that fulfilled their needs, wants and the ability to participate in society.
"The value of PAKW is determined by two main factors, namely location and demographic characteristics such as age, gender and household size.
"Therefore, the value of PAKW for each household varies depending on the demographic characteristics and the location of living quarters.
"The development of PAKW is based on the principle of above minimum needs, taking
into account three aspects of decent living: needs, wants and social participation, based
on the income/spending patterns of households.
"This approach also considers the cost of eating outside and the minimum-diversified concept for food expenditure choices. In terms of food components, PAKW takes into account the basic dietary needs that meet the balanced nutritional requirements in accordance with the Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI) standard, Ministry of Health Malaysia," he added.
A PAKW calculator known as MyPAKW was developed to estimate total basic expenditure for a decent standard of living based on information such as location and demographic factors, including gender, age, and the number of household members.
Therefore, each individual and household had its own spending patterns.
MyPAKW calculator allowed the public to be informed about their reference value for basic living expenditure in their respective localities and areas.
It could be downloaded from Play Store or the App Store, and also accessed at https://mypakw.dosm.gov.my/
"In addition to Malaysia, countries worldwide also assess their cost of decent living, employing various terms such as the cost of living index, household living-cost price indexes (HLPIs) and decent living standards," said Uzir.
DOSM also launched its OpenDOSM NextGen app as a medium to provide data cataloguing and visualisations to facilitate user analysis. It could be accessed through https://open.dosm.gov.my
The government declares National Statistics Day (MyStats Day) on Oct 20 every year. This year's theme was "Statistics is the Essence of Life".
DOSM is commemorating its Diamond Jubilee this year and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was present to officiate in its celebration here today (Nov 2).
Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli was also present at the event.