KUALA LUMPUR: The Producer Price Index (PPI) for local production declined at a slower rate of 2.1 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in December 2020 compared with 3.0 per cent in November 2020.

The Statistics Department said the continuous increase in the index of agriculture, forestry & fishing (23.5 per cent) and the positive change in manufacturing index (0.2 per cent) reinforced the momentum of the overall index.

“The index of water supply also increased 0.7 per cent. However, the mining index and electricity and gas supply index still recorded a decrease of 40.0 per cent and 1.7 per cent, respectively,” chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in a statement on Wednesday.

He said on a monthly basis, the PPI local production rose 1.7 per cent in December. The increase was supported by the index of mining which recorded a double-digit increase of 13.0 per cent, followed by agriculture, forestry & fishing (up 4.2 per cent) and manufacturing (up 0.9 per cent).

Meanwhile, electricity and gas supply and water supply declined 0.9 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively.

PPI local production for the period of January to December 2020 declined 2.7 per cent, equivalent to the changes for the period of January to November 2020.

The Statistics Department also reported that the PPI local production for the fourth quarter of 2020 declined 2.9 per cent to 103.2 compared to 106.3 in the same quarter of the previous year.

On a quarterly basis, however, the PPI local production increased 2.0 per cent from 1.2 per cent in the third quarter 2020. – Bernama