KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 7 (Bernama) — The overall sales value of Malaysia’s manufacturing sector reached RM1.8 trillion (US$1=RM4.767) in 2023, up marginally by 0.2 per cent compared with 2022, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).
It said the sales value of the manufacturing sector declined 4.2 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM149.9 billion in December 2023, marking the largest decline since May 2020 (-20.4 per cent), primarily influenced by the continuous decline in the petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products sub-sector since June 2023.
Chief statistician Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said that the sub-sector registered a negative 13.6 per cent in December 2023 against -10.8 per cent in November 2023.
“Moreover, the electrical and electronics products sub-sector dropped by 4.6 per cent (November 2023: -5.3 per cent) while the food, beverages and tobacco sub-sector slipped by 2.6 per cent (November 2023: 2.0 per cent).
“As compared to the preceding month, the sales value shrank by 3.3 per cent against RM155.0 billion recorded in November 2023 (-1.1 per cent),” he said in a statement Wednesday.
The sales value of export-oriented industries, which represented nearly 70 per cent of total sales, further declined by 8.4 per cent in December 2023 after shrinking by 6.9 per cent in November 2023.
“The decrease was predominantly attributable to the drop in the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products at negative 24.9 per cent, followed by the manufacture of vegetable and animal oils and fats (-8.6 per cent); and the manufacture of computer, electronics and optical products (-4.8 per cent),” he said.
Meanwhile, Mohd Uzir said the domestic-oriented industries, nevertheless, remained upbeat by recording a positive growth of 6.7 per cent in December 2023 (November 2023: 8.8 per cent), primarily underpinned by the sturdy expansion in the manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment at 11.5 per cent.
Additionally, the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers experienced a growth of 8.0 per cent while the manufacture of food processing products increased by 6.8 per cent.
On a month-on-month basis, both export and domestic-oriented industries dropped by 3.9 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively.
The manufacturing sector engaged 2.37 million persons in December 2023, an increase of 1.7 per cent as compared to the 2.34 million persons registered in December 2022.
— BERNAMA