PETALING JAYA: The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1% in December 2019 to 122.3 as against 121.1 in the same month of the preceding year, the Department of Statistics revealed.
In their latest statement, chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said out of 552 items covered in CPI, 360 items showed an increase in December 2019 as against December 2018.
“On the contrary, 137 items declined while 55 items were unchanged,” he said.
The increase in the overall index was driven by the index of miscellaneous goods & services (2.4%), food & non-alcoholic beverages (1.7%), housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels (1.7%), education (1.7%), communication (1.5%), furnishings, household equipment & routine household maintenance (1.4%) and health (1.4%).
All states registered an increase in the index of food & non-alcoholic beverages.
The highest increase was recorded by Johor (2.5%), followed by Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (2.1%) and Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya (2.1%), which surpassed the national index of 1.7% for food & non-alcoholic beverages in December 2019.
On a monthly basis, CPI rose 0.2% as compared to November 2019.
The increase was mainly supported by the index of food & non-alcoholic beverages (0.5%) and restaurants & hotels (0.2%).
Meanwhile, for the fourth quarter, the CPI increased 1% to 122.1 as compared to 120.9 in the previous corresponding quarter.
“On a quarterly basis, the CPI increased 0.3% as compared to the third quarter of 2019. The CPI for the year 2019 registered an increase of 0.7% as compared to last year,” Mohd Uzir said.
Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (1.5%), Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya (1.4%) and Johor (1.1%) surpassed the national CPI rate of 1% in December 2019 as compared to the same month in the preceding year.
