DOSM: Malaysia’s health inflation doubles to 3pc in 2025 on higher insurance and healthcare costs

PUTRAJAYA, July 7 — Health inflation in Malaysia increased to three per cent in 2025 from 1.4 per cent the previous year, driven by rising healthcare service costs.

Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the Preliminary Report of the Malaysia Health Price Index (IHK) 2025 released today showed that the Health Services category recorded the highest increase at 4.4 per cent, compared with 0.9 per cent in 2024.

He said the increase was mainly driven by a nine per cent rise in insurance expenditure.

Meanwhile, inflation for medicines rose to 2.7 per cent from 2.2 per cent in 2024, while health equipment increased to 1.2 per cent from 0.6 per cent.

The Medicines category is the largest component of household health expenditure in Malaysia, accounting for 38.9 per cent of the IHK weighting,” he said in a statement.

Mohd Uzir said Malaysia’s IHK covers health-related components from several Consumer Price Index (CPI) groups, while other countries measure health inflation based on the Health category in their respective CPI.

He said health inflation rates in selected countries in 2025 ranged between negative 0.8 per cent and 5.3 per cent.

“Vietnam recorded a higher health inflation rate at 5.3 per cent compared with Malaysia’s 3 per cent, while Thailand recorded the lowest rate at negative 0.8 per cent,” he said.

Mohd Uzir said the IHK served as an important reference for measuring changes in prices of health-related goods and services in relation to household spending.

“The statistics can help the government, stakeholders and the public identify trends in healthcare cost changes, supporting more effective planning, implementation and monitoring of health inflation.

“The IHK also complements the government’s efforts to improve healthcare service delivery by providing more comprehensive and relevant statistics to meet current needs,” he said. — Bernama