Consumer Price Index Malaysia October 2010 (Updated: 26/11/2010)

Source: http://www.statistics.gov.my/portal/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=630&Itemid=61&lang=en

ONSUMER PRICE INDEX MALAYSIA OCTOBER 2010

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the period January to October 2010 increased by 1.7 per cent to 113.8 compared with that of 111.9 in the same period last year. When compared to the same month in 2009, the CPI for October 2010 registered an increase of 2.0 per cent from 112.5 to 114.7 and when compared with the previous month, the CPI increased by 0.3 per cent.

The index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Non-Food for the month of October 2010 compared to the same month in 2009 showed increases of 2.8 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively. For the period January to October 2010, the index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Non-Food increased by 2.3 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively. Compared to the previous month, the index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Non-Food increased by 0.1 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively (Table 1).

CPI changes for the period January - October 2010 / 2009

The 1.7 per cent increase in the CPI was brought about by increases observed in the indices of all the main groups except for Clothing & Footwear ( - 1.4 per cent ) and Communication ( - 0.2 per cent ). Notable increases among these main groups with high weights were Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages ( + 2.3 per cent ); Transport ( + 1.3 per cent ) and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels ( + 1.0 per cent ). Other increases were Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco ( + 3.4 per cent ); Miscellaneous Goods & Services ( + 2.8 per cent ); Recreation Services & Culture and Restaurants & Hotels by 1.9 per cent respectively; Health and Education by 1.7 per cent respectively; Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance ( + 0.6 per cent ).

Table 1 : CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR MAIN GROUPS, MALAYSIA (2005=100)

Group	Wt.	Index					% Change
		Oct 2009	Sept 2010	Oct 2010	Jan - Oct 2009	Jan - Oct 2010	Oct 2010 / Sept 2010	Oct 2010 / Oct 2009	Jan - Oct 2010 / 2009
TOTAL	100.0	112.5	114.4	114.7	111.9	113.8	0.3	2.0	1.7
Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages	31.4	121.0	124.3	124.4	120.5	123.3	0.1	2.8	2.3
Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco	1.9	133.9	134.3	142.7	130.6	135.0	6.3	6.6	3.4
Clothing and Footwear	3.1	95.3	94.9	94.8	96.0	94.7	-0.1	-0.5	-1.4
Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels	21.4	106.1	107.5	107.6	105.8	106.9	0.1	1.4	1.0
Furnishings, Household Equip. & Routine Household Maintenance	4.3	108.7	109.4	109.4	108.4	109.1	0.0	0.6	0.6
Health	1.4	108.8	110.6	110.7	108.2	110.0	0.1	1.7	1.7
Transport	15.9	112.4	114.5	114.6	111.9	113.4	0.1	2.0	1.3
Communication	5.1	96.2	96.2	96.1	96.3	96.1	-0.1	-0.1	-0.2
Recreation Services & Culture	4.6	106.9	107.1	107.1	105.2	107.2	0.0	0.2	1.9
Education	1.9	108.6	110.3	110.3	108.3	110.1	0.0	1.6	1.7
Restaurants and Hotels	3.0	118.3	120.8	121.0	117.8	120.0	0.2	2.3	1.9
Miscellaneous Goods & Services	6.0	111.3	113.8	114.5	110.2	113.3	0.5	2.9	2.8
Non-Food	68.6	108.6	109.9	110.3	108.0	109.5	0.4	1.5	1.4
Durable Goods	8.0	99.9	100.5	100.9	99.6	100.6	0.4	1.0	1.0
Semi-Durable Goods	4.3	97.6	97.4	97.3	98.0	97.2	-0.1	-0.3	-0.8
Non-Durable Goods	40.6	117.6	120.3	120.9	117.1	119.3	0.5	2.8	1.9
Services	47.1	111.3	113.1	113.2	110.7	112.5	0.1	1.7	1.6

Based on the above changes and the weights assigned to the main groups, the relative contribution to the overall increase of 1.7 per cent in the CPI can be identified as shown in Table 2. The three main groups, Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages; Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels and Transport together accounted for 75.1 per cent of the overall increase recorded for the current period.

Table 2 : CONTRIBUTION TO THE CHANGES IN THE OVERALL CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
BY MAIN GROUPS, MALAYSIA (2005=100)

Group	Wt.	2009 / 2008		October 2010 / 2009		January - October 2010 / 2009
		% Change	% Contribution	% Change	% Contribution	% Change	% Contribution
TOTAL	100.0	0.6	100.0	2.0	100.0	1.7	100.0
Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages	31.4	4.1	199.7	2.8	48.1	2.3	48.1
Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco	1.9	6.1	18.8	6.6	7.4	3.4	4.6
Clothing and Footwear	3.1	-0.9	-3.8	-0.5	-0.7	-1.4	-2.3
Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels	21.4	1.4	41.1	1.4	14.1	1.0	13.7
Furnishings, Household Equip. & Routine Household Maintenance	4.3	2.9	18.0	0.6	1.4	0.6	1.7
Health	1.4	2.3	4.3	1.7	1.1	1.7	1.3
Transport	15.9	-9.4	-234.7	2.0	15.1	1.3	13.3
Communication	5.1	-0.5	-3.6	-0.1	-0.1	-0.2	-0.8
Recreation Services & Culture	4.6	1.5	10.1	0.2	0.3	1.9	5.0
Education	1.9	2.4	6.2	1.6	1.5	1.7	1.9
Restaurants and Hotels	3.0	2.9	13.2	2.3	3.7	1.9	3.5
Miscellaneous Goods & Services	6.0	3.8	30.7	2.9	8.1	2.8	10.0

The 2.3 per cent increase in the index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages was the result of increases for Food At Home ( + 2.5 per cent ); Food Away From Home ( + 2.2 per cent ) and Coffee, Tea, Cocoa & Non-Alcoholic Beverages ( + 1.0 per cent ). Among the subgroups of Food At Home which showed significant increases during this period were Sugar, Jam, Honey, Chocolate and Confectionery ( + 9.8 per cent ); Vegetables ( + 8.3 per cent ); Meat ( + 3.0 per cent ); Fruits ( + 1.6 per cent ); Fish & Seafood ( + 1.3 per cent ) and Rice, Bread & Other Cereals ( + 0.9 per cent ).

Table 3 : CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR SUB-GROUPS OF FOOD AND
NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, MALAYSIA (2005=100)

Sub-group	Wt.	Index					% Change
		Oct 2009	Sept 2010	Oct 2010	Jan - Oct 2009	Jan - Oct 2010	Oct 2010 / Sept 2010	Oct 2010 / Oct 2009	Jan - Oct 2010 / 2009
Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages	31.4	121.0	124.3	124.4	120.5	123.3	0.1	2.8	2.3
Food	30.0	121.3	124.7	124.9	120.8	123.7	0.2	3.0	2.4
Food At Home	19.6	121.4	125.2	125.3	121.1	124.1	0.1	3.2	2.5
Rice, Bread & Other Cereals	4.6	127.8	129.0	129.1	127.8	128.9	0.1	1.0	0.9
Meat	2.9	118.7	122.6	122.6	116.8	120.3	0.0	3.3	3.0
Fish & Seafood	4.5	127.2	129.0	128.0	126.4	128.0	-0.8	0.6	1.3
Milk, Cheese & Eggs	1.8	118.9	122.9	122.5	121.3	121.5	-0.3	3.0	0.2
Oils and Fats	0.6	103.8	103.9	103.9	104.1	103.9	0.0	0.1	-0.2
Fruits	1.4	112.4	113.7	114.2	111.7	113.5	0.4	1.6	1.6
Vegetables	2.3	119.1	130.8	133.3	119.7	129.6	1.9	11.9	8.3
Sugar, Jam, Honey, Choc. & Confectionery	0.7	106.8	122.3	122.4	106.2	116.6	0.1	14.6	9.8
Food Products n.e.c.	0.8	117.4	120.4	120.8	115.7	119.7	0.3	2.9	3.5
Food Away From Home	10.4	121.3	123.9	124.1	120.4	123.0	0.2	2.3	2.2
Coffee, Tea, Cocoa & Non-Alcoholic Beverages	1.4	113.3	114.7	114.8	113.2	114.3	0.1	1.3	1.0

Monthly Changes for CPI

Compared with the previous month, the CPI for October 2010 increased by 0.3 per cent. Increases were shown in seven main groups namely Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco ( + 6.3 per cent ); Miscellaneous Goods & Services ( + 0.6 per cent ); Restaurants & Hotels ( + 0.2 per cent ); Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages; Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels; Health and Transport by 0.1 per cent respectively. On the other hand, decreases were shown for Clothing & Footwear and Communication by 0.1 per cent respectively. The indices for Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance; Recreation Services & Culture and Education remained unchanged at 109.4; 107.1 and 110.3 respectively.

The 0.1 per cent increase in the index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages in October 2010 compared with that of the previous month, were shown for Food At Home ( + 0.1 per cent ); Food Away From Home ( + 0.2 per cent ) and Coffee, Tea, Cocoa & Non-Alcoholic Beverages ( + 0.1 per cent ).

Among the food items which recorded notable increases in the index in October 2010 compared with the previous month were Spinach ( + 14.3 per cent ); Water Spinach ( + 13.6 per cent ); Choy Sum ( + 13.3 per cent ); Cucumber ( + 7.5 per cent ); Long Beans ( + 3.5 per cent ); Shallots ( + 2.6 per cent ); Garlic ( + 1.6 per cent ); Mangoes ( + 1.3 per cent ); Indian Mackerel (Fish) ( + 0.4 per cent ) and Chicken ( + 0.1 per cent ).

Meanwhile, the index of some food items decreased in October 2010 compared with the previous month. Among these wereRed Chillies ( - 12.3 per cent ); Cuttlefish ( - 5.4 per cent ); Tomatoes ( - 4.8 per cent ); Hardtail Scad (Fish)( - 2.6 per cent ); Hen’s Eggs ( - 1.8 per cent ); Black Pompret (Fish), Local ( - 1.6 per cent); Prawns ( - 1.4 per cent ); Threadfin Bream (Fish) ( - 1.4 per cent ) and Round Scad (Fish) ( - 1.1 per cent ).

A reclassification of items according to their durability and services rendered showed increases in Non-Durable Goods ( + 0.5 per cent ); Durable Goods ( + 0.4 per cent ) and Services ( + 0.1 per cent ) while the index for Semi-Durable Goods decreased by 0.1 per cent.