KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s manufacturing sales value in February grew 11.2% to RM131.6 billion compared with the same month in 2021, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said.
In a statement on April 11, the DOSM said the sales value, however, decreased 5.3% compared with the previous month.
Chief statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the growth in sales value for the month was driven by the food, beverages & tobacco subsector (16.4%), especially in the manufacture of food products industries.
“The expansion was also attributed to the petroleum, chemical, rubber & plastic products subsector (12.6%), supported by the manufacture of coke & refined petroleum products industries, as well as the electrical & electronics products subsector (9.8%), mainly in the manufacture of computer, electronic & optical products,“ he said.
Mohd Uzir said sales value for export-oriented industries, which accounted for 71.2% of total sales value, increased 12.7% while domestic-oriented industries posted an increment of 7.6% in February 2022 compared with the same month in 2021.
“The growth of sales value for export-oriented industries was in a similar trend with the external trade exports and the price factors that remain favourable,“ he said.
On month-on-month comparison, he said export-oriented industries recorded a decline of 5.1% while domestic-oriented industries decreased 5.7%.
Mohd Uzir said the total employees engaged in the manufacturing sector in February 2022 was 2.28 million persons, an increase of 2.1% compared with 2,228,415 persons in February 2021.
He said the increase was contributed by the electrical & electronic products (4.7%), wood, furniture, paper products & printing (3.2%), and transport equipment & other manufactures products (1.7%).
The report also stated that salaries & wages paid amounted to RM7.81 billion, an increase of 3.9% or RM293 million in February compared with the same month of the preceding year while the sales value per employee increased 8.8% to RM57,838 compared with the same month in 2021.
Meanwhile, the average salaries & wages per employee was RM3,429 in February , the report said. - Bernama