Malaysia’s national inflation rate declined to 1.5% in November 2023, down from 1.8% in October, according to the statistics department. The consumer price index (CPI) edged lower from 1.9% in September to 1.8% in October.
Chief statistician Uzir Mahidin reported that monthly headline inflation remained unchanged at 0.1% in November compared to October. Lower increases were recorded for restaurants and hotels at 4.3% (October 2023: 4.6%), food and non-alcoholic beverages at 2.6% (October 2023: 3.6%), and health at 2.3% (October 2023: 2.4%). An increase was recorded for housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels at 1.7% (October 2023: 1.6%) and transport at 0.1% (October 2023: 0.0%).
Core inflation remained at 2.0%, surpassing the overall national inflation rate of 1.5%. At the state level, most states recorded increases below the national inflation level of 1.5%, with Putrajaya (2.3%), Sarawak (2.0%), Perak (1.9%), Penang (1.8%), and Selangor (1.7%) being the exceptions.
Compared to other countries, Malaysia’s inflation rate (1.5%) was lower than that of the Philippines (4.1%), Vietnam (3.5%), South Korea (3.3%), and Indonesia (2.9%), but higher than Thailand (-0.4%) and China (-0.5%).
