KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) continued to ease in June to 2.4 percent, the lowest level recorded so far in 2023, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).

Inflation, which came in at 2.8 percent year-on-year in May, has shown a moderating trend since January when it stood at 3.7 percent.

In a statement today, chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the slower increment in June was driven by the lower increase in components such as restaurants and hotels (5.4 percent), food and non-alcoholic beverages (4.7percent) and furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (2.3 percent).

He said the food and non-alcoholic beverages group, which contributes 29.5 percent of total CPI weight, increased at a more moderate rate of 4.7 percent (May 2023: 5.9 percent).

The component of food at home recorded a slower growth of 3.2 percent last month compared to 4.3 percent in May 2023, while the food away from home component’s increase slowed to 6.8 percent from 8.1 percent previously.

On state-level inflation, Mohd Uzir said ten states recorded increases below the national inflation level of 2.4 percent, with the Labuan Federal Territory posting the lowest increase of 1.2 percent in June.

“However, six states recorded increases above the national inflation level, namely Sarawak (3.0 percent), Pahang (2.9 percent), Putrajaya (2.8 percent), Selangor (2.7 percent), Perak (2.7 percent) and Melaka (2.7 percent),” he said.

In comparison to selected countries in the Asia-Pacific region, he said, the inflation rate in Malaysia was lower than that in South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Meanwhile, inflation in the Eurozone increased at a slower rate of 5.5 percent in June 2023 versus 6.1 percent in the previous month, while inflation in the United States eased to 3.0 percent against 4.0 percent in May.