November CPI rises mainly on food index

KUALA LUMPUR: The consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.9% to 108.6 in November from 105.5 in the same period last year.

In a statement yesterday, the Statistics Department said compared with the previous month, the CPI was up 0.3%.

Between January and November, it said the CPI rose 2% to 107 from 104.9 recorded in the same period last year.

It said the cumulative 2% in the CPI was brought about by the increases observed in the indices of all the main groups except those of communications (-0.7%), clothing and footwear (-0.6%) and recreation services and culture (-0.1%).

Notable increases among the main groups with high weights were food and non-alcoholic beverages (3.5%); housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels (1.7%); and transport (1.7%), the department said.

From January to November, the index for food and non-alcoholic beverages and non-food increased by 3.5% and 1.3% respectively, it said.

The department said the index for food and non-alcoholic beverages and non-food for November rose by 3.9% and 2.5% respectively, compared with the same month last year.

“Three main groups food and non-alcoholic beverages; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels; and transport together accounted for 80.7% of the overall increase recorded for the current period,” it said. – Bernama