Food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 7.2% in that period, driven by the food away from home (8.4%) while food at home went up 6.4%

MALAYSIA’S inflation rate in August 2022 increased to 4.7% year-on-year (YoY) in August 2022, mainly due to food and non-alcoholic beverages, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) in a statement today.

The figure, measured by the consumer price index (CPI), also moved up from 4.4% in July 2022.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 7.2% in that period, driven by the food away from home (8.4%) while food at home went up 6.4%.

However, there are still some food items that recorded a decrease in price 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 statement added.

The inflation rate in August 2022 is lower than the eurozone (9.1%), the US (8.3%), Thailand (7.9%), the Philippines (6.3%) and South Korea (5.7%). The increase in inflation is attributed to the increase in production input and fuel prices.

The inflation for the period of January to August 2022 increased by 3.1% compared to the same period of the previous year.

It was driven by the strong demand, commodity prices that remain high and disruptions in global supply chains. Among the group that recorded increases were food and non-alcoholic beverages (5.1%), transport (4.5%) and restaurants and hotels (4.0%).

The increase in the food and non-alcoholic beverages group for the period of January-August 2022 was mainly contributed by the increase in the subgroup of meat (9.2%), followed by milk, cheese and eggs (7.3%).

Transport group recorded an increase of 4.5% mainly due to the increase in the average price of Brent crude oil by 58.4% in the first eight months of this year. Restaurants and hotels groups also recorded an increase of 4% for the period of January-August 2022 compared to 0.2% in the same period of the preceding year. — TMR / pic by TMR