KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 — Malaysia’s manufacturing sector sales value fell 1.4 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM156.7 billion in October, mainly due to the persistent decline in the petroleum, chemical, rubber, and plastic products sub-sector by 9.5 per cent y-o-y.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia’s (DOSM) Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the weaker sales were also attributable to the drop in the electrical and electronics products sub-sector, which shrank 2.7 per cent.
Despite the y-o-y decline of 1.4 per cent in October, the fall was at a smaller rate than the 2.4 per cent y-o-y drop in the preceding month, he said in a statement today.
On a monthly basis, the sales value in the month dipped 0.7 per cent against a growth of 3.7 per cent in September (RM157.8 million).
On export-oriented industries, the sales value, which accounted for over two-thirds of total sales, decreased 5.2 per cent y-o-y in October from a 5.9 per cent y-o-y contraction in the previous month.
The domestic-oriented industries’ sales value grew 9.9 per cent in October versus 8.2 per cent in the previous month.
On a month-on-month comparison, Uzir said the sales of export-oriented industries shrank 2.1 per cent while the domestic-oriented industries expanded 3.2 per cent in October.
For the first ten months of 2023, the manufacturing sector’s sales increased 0.9 per cent y-o-y to RM1.50 trillion.
In terms of the number of employees, the manufacturing sector engaged 2.38 million persons in October, up 2.5 per cent from 2.32 million persons in the same month last year.
“Resembling the positive trend in employment, the salaries and wages paid in the manufacturing sector rose by 3.4 per cent y-o-y, totalling RM8.15 billion in October,” he said.
On a month-on-month comparison, the salaries and wages ticked up 0.1 per cent from RM8.14 billion recorded in September.
During the January to October 2023 period, the number of employees increased 2.5 per cent y-o-y to 2.38 million persons, while salaries and wages grew 3.6 per cent y-o-y to RM80.9 billion.
— Bernama
