Malaysia Producer Deflation Sharpest in 6 Months

Malaysia’s producer prices declined by 2.9% year-on-year in January 2026, marking the sharpest decline since July and slipping further from a 2.7% drop in the previous month. The latest reading also marked the eleventh consecutive month of producer price deflation, with mining costs dropping further (-11.7% vs -8.8%) due to lower prices of crude petroleum (-11.8%) and natural gas extraction (-11.5%). Costs for agriculture, forestry, and fishing (-8.3% vs -12.1%) also continued to decline, affected mainly by a 14.7% fall in perennial crops. Additionally, manufacturing prices contracted by 1.7% after a 1.3% fall, weighed down by reductions in manufacture of coke & refined petroleum products (-5.8%) and manufacture of food products (-4.2%). Conversely, within the utility sector, producer inflation increased for electricity & gas (4.9% vs 4.1%) and water supply (10.2% vs 10.9%). On a monthly basis, producer prices rose by 0.1% in January, rebounding from a 0.2% fall in December.