The Department of Statistics in its latest quarterly report on the construction sector showed a continued increase by 15.7 percent in the fourth quarter after expanding strongly by 23.2 percent in the third quarter of 2022.
The growth momentum in this quarter was driven by the double-digit growth in the Civil engineering sub-sector (20.8%); Non-Residential buildings (19.0%); and Special trade activities (12.7%).
Meanwhile, the sub-sector of Residential buildings increased 5.3 percent as compared to a year ago. Out of RM32.0 billion of work done value recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022, RM12.1 billion or 37.9 percent was in Civil engineering and followed by Non-residential buildings with a share of 30.1 percent or amounted to RM9.6 billion. In the meantime, the work done value in Residential buildings and Special trade activities encompassing 21.8 percent and 10.2 percent respectively.
The private sector continued to provide the main impetus to the growth of the Construction sector in this quarter which augmented by 23.5 percent (Q3 2022: 31.8%). The value of work done by the private sector amounted to RM20.0 billion or comprised 62.6 percent of the total value of construction work done. Meanwhile, the public sector with a share of 37.4 percent or equivalent to RM12.0 billion, grew by 4.7 percent during the quarter (Q3 2022: 12.6%). More than 60 percent of the work done value in Q4 2022 was concentrated in Selangor which amounted to RM7.7 billion or 24.2 percent; Wilayah Persekutuan (RM4.7 billion or 14.7%); Sarawak (RM3.7 billion or 11.7%); and Johor (RM3.4 billion or 10.7%).
Summarising the Construction sector performance for 2022, DOSM said the Construction sector posted a rebound of 8.8 percent in 2022 after two years in a declining trend. All sub-sectors picked up during the year with double-digit growth recorded in Special trade activities (19.6%); and Non-residential buildings (18.7%). In the meantime, the Civil Engineering and Residential buildings subsectors turned around to positive growth of 2.7 percent and 3.4 percent respectively. The total value of work done in construction in 2022 amounted to RM121.9 billion, however, it remained lower than the pre-pandemic period which was RM146.4 billion in 2019.
