KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 — Malaysia’s inflation increased 1.6 per cent in January 2026 with the index points rising to 135.7 from 133.6 in the same month last year, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

In a statement today, chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said this was driven by four groups, led by personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services, which rose 6.6 per cent year-on-year compared with 5.7 per cent in December 2025.

This was followed by education which climbed 3.2 per cent (December 2025: 2.8 per cent), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels which increased 1.2 per cent (December 2025: 0.9 per cent) and recreation, sport and culture which grew 0.9 per cent (December 2025: 0.8 per cent).

Both the alcoholic beverages and tobacco (2.5 per cent) as well as food and beverages groups (1.5 per cent) increased at the same rate as in the immediate preceding month, he added.

According to DOSM, about 62 per cent of items (355 out of 573) recorded price increases, of which 346 items (97.5 per cent) rose by 10 per cent or less.

Only nine saw increases of more than 10 per cent in January 2026, while the remaining 173 items (30.2 per cent) recorded declines. The prices of 45 items remained unchanged.

The agency said the average price of unleaded petrol RON97 in January 2026 was RM3.11 per litre, lower than the RM3.24 per litre recorded in December 2025.

“Meanwhile, the average price for diesel in Peninsular Malaysia was RM2.89 per litre compared to RM3.03 per litre in December 2025 (January 2025: RM3.06 per litre). However, the average price of diesel for Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan remained at RM2.15 per litre.

“The average market price of RON95 increased to RM2.54 per litre (December 2025: RM2.62 per litre) compared to the subsidised price of RM1.99 per litre,” it said.

Three states recorded increases above the national inflation level (1.6 per cent) last month, namely Johor (2.1 per cent), Negeri Sembilan (2.0 per cent) and Pahang (1.9 per cent).

However, inflation in the other states was below and equal to the national rate, with Kelantan recording the lowest inflation (0.3 per cent), Mohd Uzir said.

He said all states registered higher inflation rates for food and beverages except Kelantan (-0.3 per cent), while four states and a federal territory recorded increases over the national food and beverages inflation (1.5 per cent) in January 2026.

“The highest increase was recorded by Negeri Sembilan (3.2 per cent), followed by Pahang (2.6 per cent), Johor (2.5 per cent), Kuala Lumpur (2.0 per cent) and Melaka (1.7 per cent). Meanwhile, other states showed increases below or equal to the national inflation of food and beverages,” he said.

Looking at month-on-month performance, DOSM said the headline inflation in January 2026 registered an increase of 0.1 per cent against 0.3 per cent in December 2025.

It said the groups that recorded increases compared to the previous month were personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services (1.0 per cent), education (0.7 per cent), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (0.3 per cent), restaurant and accommodation services (0.3 per cent) and recreation, sport and culture (0.2 per cent).

Meanwhile, three groups registered decreases, namely transport (-0.4 per cent), furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (-0.1 per cent) and information and communication (-0.1 per cent).

In comparison to other countries, Malaysia’s 1.6 per cent inflation rate last month was lower compared to Indonesia (3.6 per cent), Vietnam (2.5 per cent) and South Korea (2.0 per cent) but was higher than Thailand (-0.7 per cent). — Bernama