KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.4 percent annually in February as fuel prices fell, said the country's statistics department Wednesday.

Its chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in a statement, the inflation in February was mainly driven by higher food and non-alcoholic beverages index, which was up 3 percent year-on-year.

"The overall index was also affected by the drop in the transport group by 0.3 percent in February," he added.

Other major groups that posted increases in February were furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (2.1 percent), health (2.1 percent), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (2 percent) and restaurants and hotels (1.8 percent).

Meanwhile, the CPI for the period January to February recorded an increase of 2 percent as compared to the same month last year. Enditem