KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 7 — Malaysia’s Services Producer Price Index (SPPI) went up 0.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021 (Q4 2021) to 110.7 compared to 110.1 in Q4 2020, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said.
The uptrend in the SPPI — which measures the average changes in the price of service charged by the local service industries in Malaysia — was driven by the growth in the accommodation and food and beverage (F&B) service activities (1.5 per cent) and transportation (0.7 per cent) indices.
In a statement today, Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the rise in the restaurants and mobile food service activities (1.8 per cent) and the lifting of travel restrictions as well as the reopening of the tourism sector in mid-September 2021 led to the increase in the accommodation and F&B services index.
As for the transportation subsector, the increase was mainly driven by the higher prices in freight transport by road (1.2 per cent) and passenger air transport (0.8 per cent), he said.
“Other sub-sectors that also recorded increases are real estate activities (0.6 per cent), education (0.5 per cent), health (0.2 per cent) and professional (0.1 per cent).
“However, the index for arts, entertainment and recreation sub-sector showed a decrease of 0.2 per cent, while the information and communication index remained unchanged,” said Mohd Uzir.
He noted that overall, the SPPI increased by 0.3 per cent in 2021, compared to 0.5 per cent in 2020.
In terms of quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q), the SPPI rose by 0.2 per cent, contributed by the transport sub-sectors (0.8 per cent), accommodation and F&B service activities (0.7 per cent) and real estate activities (0.2 per cent).
He added that the professional, education and health sub-sectors registered a marginal increase of 0.1 per cent q-o-q, while the arts, entertainment and recreation index declined by 2.2 per cent q-o-q and the information and communication index remained unchanged.
— Bernama
