Malaysia’s Manufacturing sectors’ sales value registered a decline of 4.0 per cent year on year to record RM147.4 billion in June 2023.
The Department of Statistics, Malaysia (DOSM) reported today (Aug 8) in the release of Monthly Manufacturing Statistics, Malaysia, June 2023 that the sales value of the Manufacturing sector slipped by 4.0 per cent in June 2023 after recording a positive growth of 3.3 per cent in the preceding month.
The decline was primarily influenced by the Food, beverages & tobacco sub-sector, which decreased by 14.6 per cent, marking three consecutive months of double-digit declines.
In addition, the deterioration was also attributable to the contraction in the Petroleum, chemical, rubber & plastic (-12.4%); and Wood, furniture, paper products & printing (-1.1%) sub-sectors.
DOSM’s Chief Statistician Dato’ Sri Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin said on a month-on-month comparison, the sales value increased marginally by 0.4 per cent as against RM146.8 billion recorded in May 2023.
“The sales value of export-oriented industries which accounted for 73.0 per cent of total sales dropped by 7.4 per cent in June 2023 after registering a marginal increase of 0.1 per cent in May 2023. The decrease was mainly due to the Manufacture of vegetable & animal oils & fats (-27.4%); Manufacture of coke & refined petroleum products (-18.6%); and Manufacture of rubber products (-13.2%).
“On the other hand, domestic-oriented industries continued to cushion the decline in sales value by sustaining a positive trajectory since September 2021, expanding by 6.8 per cent in June 2023 (May 2023: 12.5%). The steady momentum was predominantly backed by the strong growth in sales value of the Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers & semi-trailers by 10.5 per cent.”
Meanwhile, Manufacture of food processing products; and Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery & equipment industries, sustained their positive momentum by registering 7.5 per cent and 7.4 per cent, respectively. Month-on-month basis, export-oriented industries increased by 2.4 per cent while domestic-oriented industries experienced a decrease of 4.6 per cent.
On the number of employees, the Chief Statistician said, “The Manufacturing sector engaged 2.35 million persons in June 2023, posted a 2.1 per cent increase as compared to the 2.30 million persons recorded a year ago. The rise was mainly supported by the Electrical & electronics products (3.4%); Wood, furniture, paper products & printing (1.8%); and Transport equipment & other manufactures (1.6%) sub-sectors.
“In comparison to the preceding month, the number of employees in this sector decreased marginally by 0.4 per cent.”
On the same note, the salaries & wages paid in the Manufacturing sector also increased by 3.0 per cent year-on-year, amounting to RM8.0 billion in June 2023.
On a month-on-month comparison, the salaries & wages declined by 0.6 per cent from RM8.1 billion recorded in May 2023.
In addition, the average monthly salaries & wages per employee posted an increase of 0.9 per cent with a value of RM3,432 while the sales value per employee dropped by 5.9 per cent to RM62,853.
In the second quarter of 2023, the sales value of the Manufacturing sector posted the first decrease since the second quarter of 2020 (-16.5%), registering a negative 1.0 per cent as compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
The decrease was attributed to the Food, beverages & tobacco sub-sector (-12.7%); as well as the Petroleum, chemical, rubber & plastics sub-sector (-4.8%).
Meanwhile, the number of employees and salaries & wages during the quarter grew modestly by 2.1 per cent (Q1 2023: 2.8%) and 3.6 per cent (Q1 2023: 4.3%) respectively.
Summarising the performance for the first half of 2023, Mohd Uzir said, “The sales value of the Manufacturing sector reached RM888.6 billion, expanded by 3.5 per cent as compared to the same period in the preceding year. During this period, the number of employees added by 2.1 per cent, totalling 2.35 million persons while salaries & wages grew by 4.0 per cent, registering RM48.7 billion.
Moreover, the sales value per employee stood at RM378,855 which posted a growth of 1.4 per cent.”
