The total revenue of the Services sector recorded RM528.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, registering a positive growth of 14.9 percent as compared to the same quarter of 2021. The increment was contributed by the Wholesale & Retail Trade, Food & Beverages, and Accommodation segment (+RM55.6 billion; 15.0%). Meanwhile, total revenue on a quarterly basis registered a growth of 2.2 percent or +RM11.3 billion.
In the latest data released by the Department of Statistics, the total number of persons engaged in this sector amounted to 3.8 million persons, rose 111.4 thousand persons or 3.0 percent against the corresponding period of the previous year. For quarterly comparison, the number of persons engaged went up 0.6 percent or increased by 21.4 thousand persons. Salaries and wages paid in the fourth quarter of 2022 posted a growth of 5.9 percent to reach RM26.4 billion compared to the same quarter a year ago. Compared with the third quarter of 2022, salaries and wages paid increased by 1.1 percent.
In 2022, the Service sector recorded RM2 trillion, an increase of 20.3 percent compared to 2.8 percent in 2021. Compared to the 2019 (pre-pandemic COVID-19) comparison, the Service sector revenue 2022 has exceeded by 13.7 percent (+RM244.0 billion). The number of employees as well as annual salaries and wages in this sector also exceeded the amount in 2019 by 2.3 percent (+32,284 persons) and 2.9 percent (+RM2.9 billion).
