KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose 1.9 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in April 2026 to 136.9 from 134.3 in the same month last year, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
In a statement today, chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said that inflation in April 2026 was mainly driven by the increase in the transport group (+4.1 per cent; March 2026: 1.6 per cent).
"In addition, Malaysia’s inflation was also driven by increases in alcoholic beverages and tobacco (2.8 per cent; March 2026: 2.7 per cent); information and communication (2.0 per cent; March 2026: 1.4 per cent); food and beverages (1.2 per cent; March 2026: 1.1 per cent) and furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (0.4 per cent; March 2026: 0.1 per cent).
He said that about 63.5 per cent of items (364 out of 573) recorded price increases, of which 356 items registered an increase of less than or equal to 10 per cent, while only eight items recorded increases of more than 10 per cent in April 2026.
"Prices of the remaining 165 items (28.8 per cent) had declined and 44 items remained unchanged,” he said.
Mohd Uzir said that housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels group increased to 1.1 per cent in April 2026 (March 2026: 1.2 per cent).
"This was driven by the subgroup of maintenance, repair and security of the dwelling, which eased to 2.3 per cent (March 2026: 3.3 per cent),” he said.
He said that the average price of unleaded RON97 in April 2026 increased to RM5.06 per litre (March 2026: RM4.03 per litre).
The average price for diesel in Peninsular Malaysia jumped to RM5.92 per litre (March 2026: RM4.12 per litre), and the average price of diesel for Sabah, Sarawak and Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan remained at RM2.15 per litre.
"Meanwhile, the average market price of unleaded RON95 increased to RM4.00 per litre (March 2026: RM3.16 per litre),” he said.
Mohd Uzir also said that in comparison to inflation in other selected countries, inflation in Malaysia in April 2026 (1.9 per cent) was lower than inflation in the Philippines (7.2 per cent), Vietnam (5.5 per cent), Thailand (2.9 per cent), the Republic of Korea (2.6 per cent) and Indonesia (2.4 per cent). - Bernama
