PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian manufacturing sector’s sales value reached RM157.1 billion in July 2024, registering a surge of 9.1% compared to the same month last year.
Chief Statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said, “The manufacturing sector’s sales value surged by 9.1% to reach RM157.1 billion in July 2024 (July 2023: -3%), marking the highest growth since February 2023 (10.3%). The increase was driven largely by a double-digit growth of 16% (June 2024: 8.6%) in the food, beverages & tobacco sub-sector; followed by the sub-sector of electrical & electronics products (8.2%); and the petroleum chemical, rubber & plastic (6.2%). On a month-to-month basis, the sales value grew by 0.6% from RM156.1 billion in June 2024 (0.8%).”
Export-oriented industries which constituted 72.3% of the total sales value, stayed robust with a 9.4% growth in July 2024 after registering 6% in the preceding month. The better performance was attributable to the increase in the manufacture of computer, electronics & optical products (9.1%); manufacture of vegetable & animal oils & fats (23.5%); and manufacture of coke & refined petroleum products (4.8%) industries.
In a month-on-month comparison, the sales value of the export-oriented industries dropped marginally by 0.5% (June 2024: 3.9%).
Similarly, domestic-oriented industries strengthened at 8.4% (June 2024: 5.5%), mainly influenced by the manufacture of food processing products at 7%. In the meantime, the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers & semi-trailers industry rebounded to 6.2% from a decline of 5.2% recorded in the preceding month. For a comparison on a monthly basis, the sales value of domestic-oriented industries turned upward by 3.7% after registering a declining trend since April 2024 (June 2024: -6.7%).
Mohd Uzir said, “There were 2.37 million employees engaged in the manufacturing sector in July 2024, an increase of 1.3% (June 2024: 1.0%) compared to a year ago. The growth was predominantly attributed to food, beverages & tobacco (4.0%); non-metallic mineral products, basic metal & fabricated metal products (2.3%); and wood, furniture, paper products & printing (1.2%). In comparison with the preceding month, the number of employees in this sector declined slightly by 0.01% (June 2024: -0.3%).
In the meantime, the salaries & wages paid in the manufacturing sector rose by 2.4%, reaching a total of RM8.12 billion. This resulted in the increase of average monthly salaries & wages per employee by 1.2% year-on-year to RM3,429 (June 2024: 0.8%; RM3,459). Simultaneously, the sales value per employee rose by 7.8% to record RM66,285 (June 2024: 4.8%; RM65,874), he said..
Mohd Uzir said, “For the first seven months of this year (January – July 2024), the manufacturing sector’s cumulative sales value reached RM1,078.6 billion, increased by 4.5% as compared to the same period of 2023 (January - July 2023: RM1,032.6 billion; 2.5%). The number of employees went up by 1.3% to a total of 2.37 million persons, while salaries & wages grew by 1.5% to RM57.4 billion. Subsequently, the sales value per employee stood at RM455,213, posting a growth of 3.2%.”