KUALA LUMPUR: The sales value of Malaysia’s manufacturing sector expanded by 8.6% year-on-year in December 2022 to RM156.3 billion while the overall performance reached RM1.8 trillion in 2022, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia.
In a statement today, Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the expansion of sales value in December last year was reinforced by double-digit growth in transport equipment and other manufactures subsector (10.9%), particularly in the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers.
“The growth was also attributable to the strong increase in petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products subsector (10.3%) supported by the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products industries, as well as the manufacture of food, beverages and tobacco subsector which accelerated further to 10.3% underpinned by the manufacture of food products,” he shared.
Mohd Uzir noted that the sales value of export-oriented industries which accounted for 72.5% of total sales, grew modestly by 9.2% in December 2022 compared with the double-digit growth of 13.6% recorded in November 2022, in line with the slower performance of exports during the month.
In addition, sales value in domestic-oriented industries improved 7.2% from a growth of 7.1% in the previous month.
In comparison with November 2022, the sales value for export-oriented industries continued to decline by 2.3% while domestic-oriented industries returned to a negative growth of 0.3%, he said.
Meanwhile, the chief statistician highlighted that there were 2.34 million persons engaged in the manufacturing sector in December 2022, up 3.4% from 2.26 million persons a year ago.
The addition was largely contributed by the electrical and electronics products (5.2%); food, beverages and tobacco products (4.9%); and petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products (2.6%) subsectors.
“In line with the increase in employment, the salaries and wages paid in the manufacturing sector grew by 5.4%, amounting to RM8.56 billion.
“In addition, the sales value per employee went up by 5.1% from the same month in 2021 to RM66,937, while the average salaries and wages per employee amounted to RM3,666,” he said.
In the fourth quarter of 2022 (Q4’22), Mohd Uzir said, the sales value of the manufacturing sector continued to record double-digit growth of 11.1% compared with Q4’21 to RM474.4 billion.
The growth was propelled by petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastics products (16.2%); electrical and electronics products (14.8%); and food, beverages and tobacco products (6.5%) subsectors, he said.
The number of employees and salaries and wages in Q4’22 improved by 3.4% and 5.0% respectively, Mohd Uzir noted.
“Summarising the overall performance in 2022, the sales value of the manufacturing sector was RM1,800.7 billion, an increase of 15.8% from 2021.
“During the year, the number of employees added by 3.4% to record a total of 2.34 million persons, with salaries and wages increasing by 5.2% to RM94.5 billion. Moreover, the sales value per employee registered a growth of 12.1%, amounting to RM771,048,” he added. – Bernama