The Department of Statistics Malaysia today (Nov 23) released its Business Tendency Statistics for the Fourth Quarter 2023. This publication presents expectations on business performance for the three and six months ahead. The statistics are based on the Business Tendency Survey which is conducted on a quarterly basis.
Chief Statistician Malaysia, Dato’ Sri Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin said, “Businesses anticipate a better business situation in the fourth quarter of 2023, with a positive confidence indicator of 3.2 per cent, up from 0.7 per cent in the third quarter of 2023.
Services, Industry, and Construction are the three sectors that anticipate better business conditions in the fourth quarter of 2023. The business confidence for Services sector remains on a positive trajectory, with the confidence indicator increasing to +6.3 per cent as against +6.1 per cent in the last quarter. Meanwhile, Industry sector continues to be optimistic about business performance, with a confidence indicator of +4.0 per cent for the corresponding quarter as compared to +1.3 per cent in the third quarter of 2023. Simultaneously, sentiments within.
Construction sector upturn to a positive trajectory for the first time since the first quarter of 2018 by posting +1.7 per cent as against −26.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2023. However, businesses within the Wholesale and Retail Trade sector expect pessimistic business outlook, with a confidence indicator of −3.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2023 as opposed to −1.5 per cent in the last quarter.
Looking ahead, the business outlook for the period of October 2023 until March 2024 remains upbeat despite moderating, with a net balance of +9.8 per cent as against +13.9 per cent recorded previously, with all sectors register positively except the Wholesale and Retail Trade. Sentiments in Services sector remain positive, with a net balance of +19.0 per cent. For the next six months, all sub-sectors under Services sector anticipate a positive business environment.
Industry sector also foresees a brighter business outlook, with a net balance of +7.5 per cent for the period of October 2023 until March 2024. After soaring to a positive trajectory for the second half of 2023, the Construction sector keeps improving significantly, with a net balance of +27.6 per cent for the upcoming six months. Wholesale & Retail Trade expects a challenging business outlook for the following six months with a net balance of −4.6 per cent.
This scenario is due to the pessimist sentiment from the Wholesale Trade sub-sector. Nevertheless, Retail Trade subsector rebounded to a positive trajectory by recording +3.0 percent for the expected 6 months ahead compared to −12.4 percent recorded previously.
