KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 — Malaysia’s wholesale and retail trade recorded a sales value of RM139.8 billion, a 7.2 per cent increase year-on-year (y-o-y) in July 2023, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the increase was attributed to the wholesale trade sub-sector, which rose 5.7 per cent or RM3.4 billion to RM63.1 billion.
“Retail trade expanded by 5.5 per cent or RM3.1 billion to RM59.7 billion, followed by motor vehicles with an increase of 20.5 per cent or RM2.9 billion to settle at RM17.0 billion,” he said, following the release of its Performance of Wholesale & Retail Trade report for July 2023.
Meanwhile, the 0.9 per cent or RM1.3 billion increase from the previous month was contributed by wholesale trade with an increase of RM700 million or 1.1 per cent.
Within the same period, motor vehicles rebounded 2.0 per cent or RM0.3 billion, while retail trade rose 0.5 per cent or RM300 million compared to last month.
Across sub-sectors, the 5.7 per cent growth year-on-year in wholesale trade was attributed to other specialised wholesale which rose RM1.3 billion (5.8 per cent) to RM24.6 billion.
This was followed by the wholesale of food, beverages and tobacco (8.8 per cent), wholesale of household goods (2.8 per cent), wholesale of agricultural raw materials and live animals (5.4 per cent), non-specialised wholesale trade (10.3 per cent), wholesale of machinery, equipment and supplies (3.4 per cent), and wholesale on a fee or contract basis (10.5 per cent).
“For monthly comparison, wholesale trade rose 1.1 per cent, mainly attributable to other specialised wholesale (3.1 per cent), wholesale of agricultural raw materials and live animals (5.2 per cent) and wholesale of food, beverages and tobacco (0.4 per cent),” Mohd Uzir said.
On the retail trade sub-sector, the increase of 5.5 per cent y-o-y this month was supported by retail sales in non-specialised stores which grew 9.0 per cent or RM1.9 billion to RM22.7 billion.
Other groups in this sub-sector also recorded positive growth, namely retail sales in specialised stores (4.6 per cent), retail sales of food, beverages and tobacco (12.5 per cent), retail sales of automotive fuel (5.4 per cent), retail sales of household goods (0.2 per cent), retail sales in stalls and market (5.7 per cent), and retail sales not in stores, stalls or market (0.6 per cent).
For month-on-month (m-o-m) comparison, sales of this sub-sector edged up 0.5 per cent, supported by retail sales in specialised stores (1.6 per cent), retail sales of household goods (1.7 per cent), and retail sales of information and communication equipment (1.3 per cent).
He added the double-digit y-o-y growth of 20.5 per cent for the motor vehicles sub-sector this month was fuelled by motor vehicle sales, which accelerated 25.9 per cent or RM1.8 billion to RM8.8 billion.
This was followed by motor vehicle parts and accessories sales (17.3 per cent), maintenance and repair of motor vehicles (18.3 per cent), and sales, maintenance and repair of motorcycles (2.6 per cent).
For monthly comparison, this sub-sector rose 2.0 per cent, driven by sales of motor vehicles (3.1 per cent), sales, maintenance and repair of motorcycles (3.6 per cent), sales of motor vehicles parts and accessories (0.4 per cent), and maintenance and repair of motor vehicles (0.2 per cent).
For index of retail sales over the Internet, the index recorded 0.4 per cent growth y-o-y in July 2023 versus 1.5 per cent in June 2023.
For seasonally adjusted value, the index rose 0.7 per cent compared to the previous month.
In terms of volume index, wholesale and retail trade for July 2023 registered a year-on-year growth of 5.4 per cent.
The expansion was attributed to all sub-sectors namely motor vehicles (20.4 per cent), wholesale trade (6.6 per cent) and retail trade (2.7 per cent).
For the seasonally adjusted volume index, it grew 2.3 per cent month-on-month.
— Bernama
