KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 11 — Malaysia’s income from e-commerce transactions rose 23.3 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM267.6 billion in the second quarter of 2021 (Q2 2021), mainly driven by the manufacturing and services sectors, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
In a statement today, DOSM said services sector revenue jumped 20.5 per cent y-o-y to RM404.5 billion in Q2 2021 due to the low base effect.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said under the services sector, revenue of wholesale and retail trade, food and beverages (F&B) and accommodation segment increased 21.8 per cent y-o-y to RM324.6 billion.
This was followed by the information and communication and transportation and storage segment which grew 14.7 per cent y-o-y to RM59.5 billion, he said.
Mohd Uzir added that the health, education and arts, entertainment and recreation segment grew 27.3 per cent y-o-y to RM12.2 billion, while the professional and real estate agent segment was eight per cent higher at RM8.2 billion.
On the salaries and wages paid in the services sector in Q2 2021, Mohd Uzir said it increased by 0.4 per cent, or RM100.5 million compared with the same quarter last year.
“The growth was contributed by the information and communication and transportation and storage segment which increased to RM120.8 million or 2.8 per cent,” he said.
The chief statistician also said that this was followed by the wholesale and retail trade, F&B and accommodation segment which rose RM9.3 million, while the health, education and arts, entertainment and recreation segment increased to RM3.0 million in Q2 2021.
Despite higher salaries and wages were paid in the quarter under review, Mohd Uzir pointed out that the number of persons engaged in the services sector declined to 3.6 million persons or -0.7 per cent y-o-y.
He said the decrease mainly came from the information and communication and transportation and storage segment which saw a fall of 11,297 persons engaged or -2.4 per cent.
This was followed by the wholesale and retail trade, F&B and accommodation segment which recorded 6,127 persons or -0.2 per cent.
The number of persons engaged in the health, education and arts, entertainment and recreation segment fell to 4,772 persons or -1.7 per cent, while the professional and real estate agent segment also declined to 3,616 persons or -2.0 per cent, added Mohd Uzir.
— Bernama
