Higher producer prices mean consumers will pay more when they buy.

Chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the growth was driven by the mining index, which surged to 92.4% from 32.0% in the previous month, mainly due to a low base effect and continued rise in commodity and raw material prices resulting from the recovery in global demand and various supply constraints.

“Agriculture, forestry and fishing index continued to increase to 49.8% as compared to 41.1% in the previous month.

“Subsequently, manufacturing and water supply indices also registered an increase of 3.5% and 1.2%, respectively,” he said in a statement today.

Uzir said electricity and gas supply index declined 0.8%.

On a monthly basis, he said, the PPI for local production registered a marginal increase of 0.8% in April compared with 0.7% in the previous month.

All sectors showed a momentum of growth – agriculture, forestry and fishing (2.8%), mining (1.2%), water supply (0.6%), manufacturing (0.5 %) and electricity and gas supply (0.3%).

However, the finished goods index recorded a negative 0.7%, due to lower prices in semiconductors related to electrical and electronics components and motor vehicles.

Meanwhile, finished goods related to food products registered an increase of 3.8%.