PUTRAJAYA, May 8 — Most states recorded better gross domestic product growth (GDP) in 2017 with the exception of Penang, Perlis and the Federal Territory of Labuan, the Department of Statistics (DoS) said.

Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said strong growth in the services, manufacturing and agriculture sectors drove the economic performance of several states, namely Pahang which accelerated to 7.8 per cent (2016: 2.0 per cent), Selangor at 7.1 per cent (2016: 4.8 per cent), Johor at 6.2 per cent (2016: 5.7 per cent), Perak at 5.5 per cent (2018: 4.1 per cent), and Kelantan 5.0 at per cent (2016: 4.8 per cent).

“Apart from the combination of these sectors, the robust performance in the construction sector also spurred the economy of Melaka, which posted 8.1 per cent growth compared with 4.5 per cent in 2016, Terengganu at 5.9 per cent (2016: 3.1 per cent) and Negri Sembilan at 4.9 per cent (2016: 3.5 per cent),” he said.

Mohd Uzir said Kedah’s economy grew 5.0 per cent (2016: 3.2 per cent), propelled by the agriculture and services sectors, while the services sector largely drove the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur’s growth of 7.4 per cent (2016: 5.9 per cent).

“Sabah recorded a growth of 8.2 per cent (2016: 4.7 per cent), while Sarawak improved to 4.7 per cent (2016: 2.3 per cent).

“The economic growth of Sabah and Sarawak was shaped by the performance of commodity-based sectors such as agriculture and mining, as well as quarrying,” he told a press conference on key statistics of the performance of the states’ economy, and salaries and wages 2017 here today.

However, the chief statistician said Penang and Perlis saw a reduced growth of 5.3 per cent (2016: 5.6 per cent) and 2.3 per cent (2016: 3.9 per cent), respectively, due to slower performance in the services and construction sectors.

“Meanwhile, Labuan registered a 6.1 per cent growth compared with 7.2 per cent in 2016,” he added.

Mohd Uzir said seven states outpaced the national growth of 5.9 per cent in 2017, namely Sabah at 8.2 per cent, followed by Melaka (8.1 per cent), Pahang (7.8 per cent), Kuala Lumpur (7.4 per cent), Selangor (7.1 per cent), Johor (6.2 per cent), and Labuan (6.1 per cent).

The DoS also reported that six states contributed 71.2 per cent to the national GDP in 2017 compared with 70.6 per cent in the previous year.

“Selangor recorded a contribution of 23.0 per cent followed by Kuala Lumpur (15.6 per cent), Sarawak (9.7 per cent), Johor (9.5 per cent), Sabah (6.8 per cent), and Pulau Pinang (6.6 per cent),” it said.

On the annual statistics of salaries and wages, Mohd Uzir said data from the Salaries and Wages Survey 2017 showed the value of median monthly salaries and wages received by employees rose 7.7 per cent per annum to RM2,160 from RM2,000 in 2016.

“Meanwhile, the mean monthly salaries and wages increased to RM2,880 last year versus RM2,657 in 2016, with a growth rate of 8.1 per cent,” he added.

He said the increase in monthly salaries and wages in 2017 was in line with the nation’s economic performance which saw a 5.9 per cent growth compared with 4.2 per cent in 2016.

“During the same period, export registered a strong growth of 20.3 per cent amounted to RM935.5 bilion,” he added.

Additionally, Mohd Uzir said the median monthly salaries and wages for both male and female employees posted a high growth of 8.2 per cent and 7.0 per cent, respectively.

“In terms of mean monthly salaries and wages, female employees recorded a higher growth of 9.1 per cent, while male employees saw a 7.5 per cent growth,” he said.

The survey data also showed the growth rate for the median monthly salaries and wages of employees in the urban areas increased by 6.6 per cent per annum to RM2,260, while the median monthly salaries and wages of employees in the rural areas grew 3.6 per cent to RM1,400.

“The growth of the mean monthly salaries and wages of employees in both urban and rural areas were higher at 7.7 per cent (RM3,038) and 6.3 per cent (RM2,040), respectively,” Mohd Uzir added. — Bernama