KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s inflation rose 1.5 per cent in February 2025, a slower pace than in previous months, according to the Statistics Department (DoSM).
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 134.1 points, up from 132.1 a year ago.
The rise was largely driven by modest increases in housing and utilities (2.3 per cent), recreation (1.5 per cent), health (1.0 per cent), transport (0.7 per cent), and furnishings (0.3 per cent). However, personal care (3.7 per cent), education (1.9 per cent), and insurance services (1.5 per cent) saw sharper gains.
Inflation in information and communication remained in negative territory at -5.3 per cent, while clothing and footwear dipped slightly at -0.2 per cent.
Food and beverages, which make up nearly 30 per cent of the CPI basket, held steady at 2.5 per cent. Food-at-home inflation inched up to 0.5 per cent, driven by a 3.2 per cent jump in ready-made foods. Coconut milk prices spiked due to a local supply dip and global shortages, with fresh and instant variants soaring 27.0 per cent and 8.7 per cent, respectively.
Vegetable prices declined further, falling 1.0 per cent year-on-year, while meat prices slid 0.3 per cent, though chicken—making up nearly a third of the meat basket—rose 1.9 per cent to RM10.52 per kg.
Month-on-month, overall inflation rose 0.4 per cent from January.
At the state level, Sarawak recorded 1.9 per cent inflation, higher than the national average and tied with Selangor. Johor led with 2.1 per cent, followed by Melaka (1.6 per cent).
Compared with regional peers, Malaysia’s 1.5 per cent inflation was lower than Vietnam’s (2.9 per cent) and the Philippines’ (2.1 per cent), but higher than Thailand’s (1.1 per cent), Indonesia’s (-0.1 per cent), and China’s (-0.7 per cent). — BERNAMA
