Malaysia: Malaysia's Producer Price Index (PPI) dropped 2.9 per cent in January 2026, after recording a 2.7 per cent decrease in the previous month, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Chief Statistician of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin, stated that the mining sector declined by 11.7 percentage points, significantly affecting the overall index. Both the extraction of crude petroleum and the extraction of natural gas indices decreased by 11.8 per cent and 11.5 per cent, respectively. The agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector contracted by 8.3 per cent, with the growing of perennial crops index recording a 14.7 per cent decline.

Similarly, the manufacturing sector also fell 1.7 per cent. Conversely, within the utility sector, the water supply index increased by 10.2 per cent, and the electricity and gas supply index rose by 4.9 per cent. On a month-on-month basis, the PPI Local Production recorded a marginal increase of 0.1 per cent in January 2026 from a decline of 0.2 per cent in the previous month.

Mohd Uzir highlighted that the mining sector rebounded by 1.9 per cent in January 2026, supported by the extraction of crude petroleum index, which rose by 4.0 per cent. The agriculture, forestry and fishing sector increased by 0.3 per cent, driven by the animal production index, which increased by 1.6 per cent. Meanwhile, water supply and electricity and gas supply indices rose by 0.6 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively.

However, the manufacturing sector slipped by 0.2 per cent in January 2026, weighed down by declines in the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products and the manufacture of food products indices. Comparing Malaysia's PPI for January 2026 with selected countries, Mohd Uzir noted that Japan's PPI increased by 2.3 per cent year-on-year, slightly moderating from a 2.4 per cent increase in the previous month.

In contrast, China remained in producer deflation, with its PPI declining by 1.4 per cent, representing the 40th consecutive month of decline. Similarly, Thailand's PPI declined by 1.6 per cent, marking the eleventh straight month of year-on-year negative producer inflation, a similar trend in Malaysia.