The sales value of the Manufacturing sector decreased at a slower pace of 1.9 per cent in September 2023 as compared to the 3.3 per cent deterioration in the preceding month.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) in its Monthly Manufacturing Statistics, Malaysia release today (Nov 7) said the decrease was predominantly influenced by the continuous 12.3 per cent decline in the Petroleum, chemical, rubber & plastic sub-sector.
Additionally, the Food, beverages & tobacco sub-sector contracted by 1.7 per cent; and the Wood, furniture, paper products & printing sub-sector fell by 0.7 per cent. As compared to the preceding month, the sales value increased by 4.3 per cent as against RM152.2 billion recorded in August 2023 (5.7%).
The sales value of export-oriented industries which represented more than two-thirds of total sales, declined by 5.1 per cent in September 2023 after shrinking by 6.8 per cent in August 2023.
Nonetheless, the domestic-oriented industries sustained resilience and grew 8.1 per cent in September 2023 (August 2023: 7.2%). On a month-on-month comparison, both export-oriented and domestic-oriented industries posted an increase of 4.4 per cent and 4.1 per cent, respectively.
The Manufacturing sector engaged 2.37 million persons in September 2023, an increase of 2.4 per cent as compared to the 2.32 million persons registered a year earlier.
The rise was mainly supported by the Food, beverages & tobacco (7.4%); Non-metallic mineral products, basic metal & fabricated metal products (2.8%); and Electrical & electronic products (2.0%) sub-sectors. On a month-on-month basis, the number of employees in the Manufacturing sector increased by 0.8 per cent.
On the same note, the salaries & wages paid in the Manufacturing sector also posted an increase by 3.2 per cent year-on-year, totalling RM8.1 billion in September 2023. As compared to August 2023, the salaries & wages paid grew by 1.7 per cent as against 0.9 per cent growth registered in the preceding month.
Furthermore, the sales value per employee decreased by 4.2 per cent to record RM66,864 while the average salaries & wages per employee in September 2023 was RM3,429 which rose by 0.8 per cent year-on-year.
In the third quarter of 2023, the sales value of the Manufacturing sector continued to decelerate for two consecutive quarters, dropping by 2.7 per cent year-on-year as compared to the 1.0 per cent decline registered in the previous quarter.
The decrease was attributed to the Petroleum, chemical, rubber & plastic (-13.3%), Food, beverages & tobacco (-5.3%); as well as the Wood, furniture, paper products & printing (-0.5%) sub-sectors.
On the other hand, the number of employees and salaries & wages paid during the quarter grew by 2.4 per cent and 3.0 per cent, respectively. As compared to the previous quarter, the sales value rebounded to 3.6 per cent from negative 2.3 per cent in the preceding quarter.
Summarising the performance for the first nine months of 2023, the sales value of the Manufacturing sector hit RM1.34 trillion, rose by 1.3 per cent as compared to the same period in the preceding year (Jan. – Sept. 2022: 17.6%).
During this period, the number of employees increased by 2.4 per cent, reaching a total of 2.37 million persons while salaries & wages grew by 3.6 per cent, amounting to RM72.8 billion. Moreover, the sales value per employee stood at RM566,014 which posted a decline of 1.1 per cent.
