PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s Industrial Production Index (IPI) for February 2025 recorded a growth of 1.5%, driven by an increase in the manufacturing sector.
Chief Statistician of Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said, “The increase in the IPI to 1.5% in February 2025 was contributed by the growth in the manufacturing sector, which expanded by 4.8%. However, the output of the mining and electricity sectors declined by 8.9% and 2.8%, respectively. From a monthly comparison point of view, the IPI recorded a decrease of 6.8% (January 2025: -0.4%).”
The growth in the manufacturing sector for February was supported by output in export-oriented industries, which grew by 5.7%, compared to 5.6% in January. This growth was mainly driven by the increase in the manufacturing of computers, electronic and optical products, which rose by 8.4%, followed by the manufacturing of vegetable and animal oils and fats (17.7%).
Additionally, the manufacturing of chemicals and chemical products contributed to a growth rate of 5.7%. However, export-oriented industries remained in the negative range, with a decline of 5.6% compared to January (-0.9%).
Domestic-oriented industries showed growth of 2.9% in February compared to a modest growth of 0.2% in the previous month. The growth was driven by manufacturing of food processing products (8.6%), manufacturing of fabricated metal products except machinery and equipment (6.4%), and printing and reproduction of recorded media (8.7%). Compared to the previous month, domestic-oriented industries declined by 4.8%.
Commenting on the performance of the mining sector, Mohd Uzir stated, “The contraction of 8.9% in the mining sector in February 2025 was driven by a decline in the output of natural gas and output of crude oil and condensate, which recorded a decline of 10.3% and 6.7% respectively. From a monthly comparison point of view, the mining index dropped to -12.5% from -0.5% recorded in January 2025.”
Meanwhile, the electricity index fell by 2.8% in February, compared to a negative 0.2% recorded in the previous month. On a month-to-month comparison, the electricity index remained in the negative range, with a 6.6% decline.
Cumulatively, for January-February, the IPI increased by 1.8% compared to the same period in 2024, with the manufacturing sector index showing an expansion of 4.2% while the mining and the electricity indices showed decreases of 5.9% and 1.5% respectively.