Stats Dept: Manufacturing sales down 1.4pc y-o-y to RM156.7b in October 2023

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 2023, mainly due to the persistent decline in the petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products sub-sector by 9.5 per cent y-o-y, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (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 2023, the fall was at a smaller rate compared with the 2.4 per cent y-o-y drop in the preceding month, he said in a statement today.

On a monthly basis, Mohd Uzir said the sales value in the month dipped 0.7 per cent against a growth of 3.7 per cent in September 2023 (RM157.8 million).

On export-oriented industries, Mohd Uzir said the sales value, which accounted for more than two-thirds of total sales, decreased 5.2 per cent y-o-y in October 2023 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 2023 versus 8.2 per cent in the previous month.

On a month-on-month comparison, he said the sales of export-oriented industries shrank 2.1 per cent while the domestic-oriented industries expanded 3.2 per cent in October 2023.

For the first 10 months of 2023, Mohd Uzir said the manufacturing sector’s sales inched up 0.9 per cent y-o-y to RM1.50 trillion.

In terms of the number of employees, he said the manufacturing sector engaged 2.38 million persons in October 2023, up 2.5 per cent, from 2.32 million persons engaged 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 2023,” he said.

On a month-on-month comparison, Mohd Uzir said the salaries and wages ticked up 0.1 per cent from RM8.14 billion recorded in September 2023.

During the January to October 2023 period, he said 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