PETALING JAYA: The Consumer Price Index recorded a slight increase of 0.1% in February 2021 to 122.5 as against 122.4 in the same month of the preceding year, driven by the index of miscellaneous goods & services (1.6%); food & non-alcoholic beverages (1.4%); alcohol beverages & tobacco (0.7%); health (0.7%); furnishings, household equipment & routine household maintenance (0.3%); recreation services & culture (0.1%) and education (0.1%) which contributed 50.7% to overall weight.
Chief Statistician Malaysia Datuk Sri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said out of 552 items covered in CPI, 326 items showed an increase in February 2021.
“On the contrary, 147 items declined, while 79 items were unchanged. Based on the performance of 552 items by category of goods and services, non-durable goods (296 items) is a category that experienced the most price increased with 201 items, 79 items decreased and 16 items were unchanged as compared to services, semi-durable goods and durable goods,” he added.
Nevertheless, transport decreased by 2% to 111.6 as compared to 113.9 in the corresponding month of the preceding year. This group contributes 14.6% of CPI weight. Similarly, housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels declined by 0.8%, followed by clothing & footwear (-0.4%) and restaurants & hotels (-0.3%).
On a monthly basis, CPI increased by 0.3% as compared to January 2021. The increase was attributed by transport (2.3%); housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels (0.2%) and furnishings, household equipment & routine household maintenance (0.2%).
“The CPI without fuel increased 0.4% in February 2021 to 113.6 as compared to 113.1 in the same month of the preceding year. CPI without fuel covers all goods and services except unleaded petrol RON95, RON97 and diesel,” said Mohd Uzir.
The average price of RON95 in February 2021 decreased to RM1.96 per litre as compared to RM2.07 in February 2020. In addition, the average price of RON97 decreased to RM2.26 per litre as compared to RM2.37 in the corresponding month of the preceding year, while the average price of diesel remained unchanged at RM2.13 as compared to February 2020.
Seven states namely Terengganu (0.8%), Kelantan (0.7%), Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya (0.4%), Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (0.2%), Pulau Pinang (0.2%), Perak (0.2%) and Pahang (0.2%) surpassed the national CPI rate of 0.1% in February 2021 as compared to February 2020.
All states except Sabah and Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan registered an increase in the index of food & non-alcoholic beverages. The highest increase was recorded by Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya and Terengganu at 2.1%. This was followed by Kelantan (2%), Pahang (1.6%) and Perak (1.5%).
