KUALA LUMPUR ― Malaysia’s industrial production index rose 8.2 percent in April from a year earlier, its quickest pace in more than three years, government data showed on Friday.
The rate surpassed the 4-percent growth forecast by economists surveyed in a Reuters poll, and was the fastest since September 2022, when the index ― which measures factory output from the manufacturing, mining and electricity generation sectors ― climbed 10.8 percent.The pace in April was driven by expansion in all three sectors, the Statistics Department said in a statement.Being the leading producer of rubber products, palm oil products and natural gas, the country’s manufacturing sector rose 8.3 percent from a year earlier in April, while mining output jumped 6.8 percent after recording an annual decline of 6.5 percent the previous month, the department said.As a premier global hub for semiconductor packaging, assembly and testing, the electricity sector rose 10.5 percent in April, it said.In March, the index rose 3.1 percent from a year earlier.Export-oriented industries, which make up about two-thirds of the manufacturing sector, expanded 8.5 percent year on year in April, up from 6.7 percent in March.In comparison with some of its Asian neighbors, Malaysia’s 8.2-percent annual industrial production growth stands out regionally, placing it behind only Singapore (17.6 percent), Taiwan (14.2 percent) and Vietnam (9.3 percent).
