Malaysia inflation rises 1.8 percent in July 2026
Malaysia’s headline inflation eased to 1.8% year-on-year in July from 1.9% in June, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said on Monday.
Source: Astro Awani · August 17, 2026 at 5:34 AM · AI-assisted report
Single-source
KUALA LUMPUR, 17 AUGUST 2026 —
Malaysia’s headline inflation eased to 1.8% year-on-year in July from 1.9% in June, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said on Monday.
Market Impact
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 137.1 in July from 134.7 a year earlier. DOSM said transport inflation cooled to 1.4% from 2.8% in June.
The slowdown was widespread. The “miscellaneous goods and services” category fell to 2.9% from 3.4%, alcohol and tobacco slowed to 2.7% from 2.8%, and restaurants and accommodation services dropped to 2.0% from 2.6%. Education inflation steadied at 2.0%, while insurance and financial services rose just 1.1% after 5.7% in June. Household maintenance costs edged up 0.3% from 0.4%.
Food inflation accelerated to 1.8% from 1.4%, driven by both “food away from home” (2.5% vs 2.4%) and “food at home” (1.2% vs 0.5%). Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels also climbed 1.8% after 1.4%.
The sharpest gain was in information and communication, which jumped to 3.4% from 2.4%. Clothing and footwear edged up 0.1% after no change in June.
Of 573 items tracked, 374 rose in price. DOSM said 367 of those increases were 10% or less, while seven items exceeded 10%. A separate 157 items fell and 42 were unchanged.
Transport was the main drag. Private transport costs rose just 1.3% after 3.1% in June, while public transport stayed at 6.5%. Goods transport services and vehicle purchases both contracted—1.3% and 0.2% respectively. Pump prices reflected the trend: unleaded RON97 fell to RM4.07 per litre from RM4.33, diesel to RM4.14 from RM4.50, and RON95 to RM3.47 from RM3.69.
The government’s targeted diesel subsidy, BUDI Diesel, launched 1 July, lets eligible private diesel vehicle owners buy subsidised fuel at RM2.10 per litre via MyKad verification. DOSM said the programme helped cap the transport inflation rate. About 700,000 owners in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan are expected to benefit.
Seven states outpaced the national average of 1.8%: Negeri Sembilan (2.5%), Kedah (2.3%), Pahang (2.3%), Kuala Lumpur (2.2%), Johor (2.1%), Labuan (2.0%) and Sabah (1.9%). All reported higher food inflation except Kelantan and Labuan, which showed no change.
For Malaysian business readers, the softer reading supports the view that Bank Negara Malaysia has room to keep its benchmark rate on hold while monitoring food and energy volatility.
Related: Kuala Lumpur