CPI falls 1.4 per cent y-o-y in August 2020 - DOSM

However, on a monthly basis, the CPI increased 0.2 per cent compared to July 2020, attributable to the rise in miscellaneous goods and services (0.7 per cent), transport (0.4 per cent), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (0.2 per cent), food and non-alcoholic beverages (0.1 per cent), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (0.1 per cent), health (0.1 per cent) and restaurants and hotels (0.1 per cent) indices.

Commenting on the y-o-y decline, chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the decrease in the overall index was due to the decline in transport (-9.9 per cent), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (-3.0 per cent), clothing and footwear (-0.6 per cent), furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (-0.1 per cent) indices, which contributed 45.7 per cent to the overall weight.

"The food and non-alcoholic beverages index increased by 1.3 per cent y-o-y to 135.2 compared with 133.5 previously.

"This group contributes 29.5 per cent to CPI weight," he said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, he said the CPI without fuel shows a positive rate of 0.2 per cent in August 2020 compared to July 2020.

"CPI without fuel covers all goods and services, except unleaded petrol RON95, RON97 and diesel," he added.

Mohd Uzir said the RON95’s average price in August 2020 decreased to RM1.68 per litre versus RM2.08 in August 2019, while RON97 dropped to RM1.98 per litre from RM2.51 and diesel fell to RM1.81 per litre from RM2.18 previously.

CPI for January to August 2020 slid 1.0 per cent from the same period last year, attributable to the fall in transport (-10.0 per cent), clothing and footwear (-1.0 per cent) and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (-1.0 per cent) indices.

Meanwhile, the CPI for all states decreased between -0.7 to -2.2 per cent y-o-y in August 2020, with the highest decrease seen in Melaka (-2.2 per cent y-o-y) as well as Sabah and Labuan (both -2.2 per cent y-o-y), followed by Kedah and Perlis (both -2.1 per cent y-o-y) and Sarawak (-2.1 per cent y-o-y).

"However, all states registered an increase in the index of food and non-alcoholic beverages.

“The highest increase was recorded by Selangor and Putrajaya (2.3 per cent), followed by Johor (1.7 per cent), Terengganu (1.5 per cent), Perak (1.4 per cent), Negeri Sembilan (1.4 per cent) and Pahang (1.4 per cent), which surpassed the national index of 1.3 per cent,” Mohd Uzir added.