Kuala lumpur: Malaysia's inflation increased by 2.0 percent in May 2026, with the index points rising to 137.1 from 134.4 compared to a year ago, reported the Statistics Department Malaysia (DOSM).

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin highlighted four main groups in a report released with the consumer price index (CPI) for May 2026. The information and communication sector saw an increase to 2.1 percent from 2.0 percent in April 2026. The food and beverages category, which accounts for 29.8 percent of the total CPI weightage, rose by 1.4 percent compared to 1.2 percent a month ago.

The housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels category rose to 1.2 percent against 1.1 percent in the previous month. The recreation, sport, and culture category increased to 1.1 percent from 0.9 percent previously, driven by inflation in the maintenance, repair, and security of the dwellings subgroup. DOSM also noted that an automatic fuel adjustment (AFA) revised rate was imposed on Peninsular Malaysia domestic users consuming more than 600 kilowatt hours (kwh). The Energy Commission set the AFA rate for May 1-31, 2026, at 1.38 sen/kwh (surcharge) compared to a 0.47 sen/kwh rebate for April 1-30, 2026. Domestic users consuming 600 kwh and below remained unaffected by this adjustment.

Elsewhere, transportation inflation moderated to 3.8 percent from 4.1 percent in the previous month, while restaurant and accommodation services recorded 2.5 percent, slightly down from 2.6 percent in April 2026. Education inflation was at 2.2 percent compared to 2.4 percent in April 2026, and health inflation was recorded at 1.2 percent against 1.4 percent a month ago, according to the report.

DOSM further reported that 63.5 percent of items (364 out of 573 items) recorded price increases. Of these, 355 items (97.5 percent) registered an increase of less than or equal to 10 percent, while nine items recorded increases of more than 10 percent in May. The remaining 167 items (29.1 percent) showed a decline, and 42 items remained unchanged.

In terms of fuel, May 2026 saw the average price of unleaded RON97 petrol fall to RM4.81 per litre from RM5.06 the previous month. The average diesel price in Peninsular Malaysia was RM5.01 per litre against RM5.92 in April 2026. Meanwhile, Sabah, Sarawak, and Labuan's average diesel price remained at RM2.15 per litre. Unleaded RON95's average market price was RM3.97 per litre compared to RM4.00 in April 2026, with the subsidized price at RM1.99 per litre.

On state-level inflation, Mohd Uzir noted that Pahang (2.8 percent), Negeri Sembilan (2.6 percent), Labuan (2.6 percent), Johor (2.5 percent), Kuala Lumpur (2.4 percent), Kedah (2.2 percent), Putrajaya (2.2 percent), and Melaka (2.1 percent) experienced increases above the national 2.0 percent level. Sarawak recorded the lowest increase at 0.5 percent in May 2026.