This was driven by a 3.2% price increase in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, and restaurant and accommodation services, Bernama reported.

Increases were also recorded in education (1.5%); transport (0.9%); personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services (3%); health (2.2%); recreation, sport and culture (1.9%); as well as food and beverages (1.8%), the statistics department said today.

Clothing and footwear, and insurance and financial services declined 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.

However, the department said the prices of furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance did not register any increase and thus, to a certain extent, offset the increase in inflation.

Core inflation, which measures changes in the prices of all goods and services excluding fresh food and administered prices of goods by the government, increased by 1.9% in May 2024, the same rate as recorded in the previous month.

The department said the increase was mainly driven by restaurant and accommodation services (3.2%) as well as personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services (3.0%).

“Inflation without fuel inclined to 1.9% in May 2024. This covers all goods and services except RON95, RON97 and diesel,” it said.

The department said the inflation rate in Malaysia was lower than in South Korea (2.7%), Indonesia (2.8%) and the Philippines (3.9%).