Malaysia’s inflation up 2pc in May as information, food and housing groups record gains, says DOSM

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — Malaysia’s inflation increased 2.0 per cent in May 2026 with the index points rising to 137.1 from 134.4 versus a year ago, said the Statistics Department Malaysia (DOSM).

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin highlighted four groups in a report in conjunction with the release of consumer price iIndex (CPI) for May 2026.

He said information and communication saw a rise to 2.1 per cent versus 2.0 per cent in April 2026.

Food and beverages, which contributed 29.8 per cent of the total CPI weightage, rose 1.4 per cent versus 1.2 per cent a month ago, he said

Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels rose to 1.2 per cent versus 1.1 per cent in the previous month, and recreation, sport and culture, was at 1.1 per cent against 0.9 per cent perviously, contributed by inflation in the maintenance, repair and security of the dwellings subgroup.

DOSM also noted that the automatic fuel adjustment (AFA) revised rate was imposed on Peninsular Malaysia domestic users when consuming more than 600 kilowatt hours (kwh).

The Energy Commission set the AFA rate for May 1-31, 2026, at 1.38 sen/kwh (surcharge) compared with a 0.47 sen/kwh rebate for April 1-30, 2026.

“This adjustment impacted the average electricity tariff against the previous period. Domestic users consuming 600 kwh and below remained unaffected,” it added.

Elsewhere, transportation inflation moderated at 3.8 per cent versus 4.1 per cent in previous month; restaurant and accommodation services was 2.5 per cent, slightly down versus 2.6 per cent in April 2026.

Education inflation was 2.2 per cent versus 2.4 per cent in April 2026, and health was at 1.2 per cent compared with 1.4 per cent a month ago, the report said.

DOSM also said 63.5 per cent of items (364 out of 573 items) recorded price increases.

“Nonetheless, out of this total, 355 items (97.5 per cent) registered an increase of less than or equal to 10 per cent, while nine items recorded increases of more than 10 per cent in May,” DOSM said. 

The remaining 167 items (29.1 per cent) showed a decline and 42 items were unchanged.

In the area of fuel, May 2026’s average price of unleaded RON97 petrol fell to RM4.81 per litre versus RM5.06 the month before.

Diesel’s average price in Peninsular Malaysia was RM5.01 per litre versus RM5.92 in April 2026.

Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan’s average diesel price remained at RM2.15 per litre.

Unleaded RON95’s average market price was RM3.97 per litre against RM4.00 in April 2026. The subsidised price is RM1.99 a litre.

On state level inflation, Mohd Uzir said those that had increases above the national 2.0 per cent level were Pahang (2.8 per cent), Negeri Sembilan (2.6 per cent), Labuan (2.6 per cent), Johor (2.5 per cent), Kuala Lumpur (2.4 per cent), Kedah (2.2 per cent), Putrajaya (2.2 per cent) and Melaka (2.1 per cent).

The rest recorded increases below or equal to the national inflation rate with Sarawak at the lowest at 0.5 per cent in May 2026. — Bernama