KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 — The sales value of the manufacturing sector in August 2026 increased by 9.9 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM185.0 billion, up from the 9.1 per cent growth recorded in July 2026, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

In a statement today, DOSM said the growth was driven by the electrical and electronic equipment subsector, which recorded an increase of 22.6 per cent.

“This momentum was reinforced by the petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products subsector, which grew by 5.2 per cent (July 2026: 3.6 per cent), while growth in the food, beverages and tobacco products subsector moderated to 0.3 per cent from 3.9 per cent in the previous month,” it said.

Month-on-month (m-o-m), the sales value increased by 4.3 per cent from RM177.3 billion in July 2026.

DOSM said the sales value of export-oriented industries, which accounted for 73.6 per cent of total sales, grew by 12.1 per cent y-o-y in August 2026 (July 2026: 9.9 per cent).

“This performance was driven by a 24.9 per cent increase in the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products (July 2026: 19.0 per cent),” it said.

In addition, DOSM said the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products recorded an increase  of 8.3 per cent (July 2026: 3.3 per cent), while the manufacture of furniture grew by 8.4 per cent (July 2026: 7.9 per cent).

Compared with the previous month, the sales value of export-oriented industries increased by 2.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, DOSM said sales in domestic-oriented industries grew by 4.4 per cent y-o-y in August 2026 compared with 7.2 per cent in the previous month.

“This performance was driven by the manufacture of basic metals, which recorded a double-digit growth of 13.1 per cent (July 2026: 14.9 per cent).

“Furthermore, the manufacture of food processing products grew at a more moderate pace of 6.9 per cent, compared with 9.6 per cent in July 2026,” it said.

On an m-o-m basis, sales in domestic-oriented industries contracted by 0.9 per cent.

In addition, the number of employees in the manufacturing sector totalled 2.4 million in August 2026, an increase of 1.2 per cent y-o-y (July 2026: 1.1 per cent).

The increase was driven by employment growth of 2.1 per cent in the food, beverages and tobacco subsector, followed by growth of 1.9 per cent in the non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products subsector (July 2026: 1.9 per cent), and 1.8 per cent in the electrical and electronic equipment subsector (July 2026: 1.3 per cent). 

The cumulative sales value for the first eight months of 2026 reached RM1.39 trillion, an increase of 7.9 per cent, it added. — Bernama