Malaysia’s Wholesale & Retail Trade recorded sales value of RM141.1 billion, increased 5.5 per cent year-on-year in February 2024. However, for monthly comparison, the sales value recorded negative growth for two consecutive months with -0.9 per cent, compared to January 2024.
This was reported by Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) in today’s release of PERFORMANCE OF WHOLESALE & RETAIL TRADE, FEBRUARY 2024. The report also presents statistics on sales value and volume index of Wholesale & Retail Trade by sub-sector as well as index of retail sales over the internet.
In a statement today (Apr 8), Dato’ Sri Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin, Chief Statistician Malaysia said, “The increase of 5.5 per cent year-on-year for Wholesale & Retail Trade in February 2024 was driven by Retail Trade sub-sector, which rose 5.8 per cent or RM3.4 billion to register RM61.5 billion. Wholesale Trade also expanded by registering 5.2 per cent or RM3.1 billion to RM62.2 billion, followed by Motor Vehicles with a growth of 5.4 per cent or RM0.9 billion to settle at RM17.4 billion.”
For monthly comparison, the negative growth of -0.9 per cent from the previous month was contributed by Wholesale Trade which slipped -2.3 per cent, followed by Motor Vehicles sub-sector which contracted -1.4 per cent. In contrast, Retail Trade sub-sector registered a positive growth of 0.7 per cent in this month.
Looking at the performance across sub-sectors, the Chief Statistician said, “The growth of 5.8 per cent year-on-year for Retail Trade was supported by Retail Sales in Non-specialised Stores which grew 6.7 per cent or RM1.5 billion to RM23.6 billion. Other groups in this sub-sector also recorded positive growth namely Retail Sales in Specialised Stores (9.5%), Retail Sales of Food, Beverages & Tobacco (8.0%), Retail Sales of Household Goods (4.0%), Retail Sales of Automotive Fuel (3.4%), Retail Sales of Cultural & Recreation Goods (5.4%), Retail Sales Not in Stores, Stalls or Markets (1.0%), and Retail Sales via Stalls & Markets (3.3%). For month-on-month comparison, sales of this sub-sector edged up 0.7 per cent, spearheaded by Retail Sales in Non-specialised Stores (1.7%), Retail Sales in Specialised Stores (1.1%), and Retail Sales of Automotive Fuel (0.7%).”
On the Wholesale Trade sub-sector, the increase of 5.2 per cent year-on-year in February was supported by Other Specialised Wholesale which rose RM1.6 billion or 7.4 per cent to RM23.7 billion. This was followed by Wholesale of Food, Beverages & Tobacco (4.0%), Wholesale of Household Goods (3.7%), Wholesale of Agricultural Raw Materials & Live Animals (5.6%), Nonspecialised Wholesale Trade (5.4%), Wholesale of Machinery, Equipment & Supplies (1.7%), and Wholesale on a Fee or Contract Basis (0.8%).
On the other hand, for monthly comparison, Wholesale Trade slipped -2.3 per cent, mainly contributed by the decrease in Wholesale of Food, Beverages & Tobacco (-5.6%), Other Specialised Wholesale (-1.3%), Wholesale of Machinery, Equipment & Supplies (-4.3%), and Wholesale of Household Goods (-1.3%).”
Mohd Uzir added, “The year-on-year growth of 5.4 per cent for Motor Vehicles sub-sector was fuelled by Sales of Motor Vehicle Parts & Accessories which surged 13.7 per cent or RM0.6 billion to record RM4.9 billion. This was followed by Maintenance & Repair of Motor Vehicles (14.1%) and Sales of Motor Vehicles (0.2%).
“Conversely, for monthly comparison, this sub-sector contracted -1.4 per cent due to Sales of Motor Vehicles which dived-4.5 per cent.”
For index of retail sale over the internet, the index went up 0.4 per cent year-on-year in February 2024 as compared to -1.6 per cent in January 2024.
However, for seasonally adjusted value, the index edged up 0.4 per cent as against the previous month.
In terms of volume index, Wholesale & Retail Trade for February 2024 registered a year-on-year growth of 3.9 per cent. The expansion was attributed to all sub-sectors namely Retail Trade (4.5%), Wholesale Trade (4.3%), and Motor Vehicles (2.6%). For seasonally adjusted volume index, it increased 3.8 per cent month-on-month.
