The micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) continued to outpace the broader economy in 2025, with gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5.7%, exceeding the country’s overall GDP expansion of 5.2%, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
The stronger performance lifted MSMEs’ value added to RM689.8 billion in 2025, up from RM652.8 billion a year earlier, raising the sector’s contribution to 39.7% of Malaysia’s GDP.
DOSM said the Services and Manufacturing sectors remained the backbone of the MSME economy, jointly contributing 84.5% of total MSME GDP. This was followed by the Agriculture sector at 8.4%, Construction at 5.3%, and Mining and quarrying at 0.5%.
MSME exports rose 10.5% to RM214.5 billion in 2025, although the pace moderated from the 29.5% growth recorded in 2024.
The increase was primarily driven by stronger performances in the Manufacturing and Services sectors, which expanded 8.8% and 14.0%, respectively.
Overall, MSMEs accounted for 14.7% of Malaysia’s total exports in 2025, underscoring their continued role in supporting the country’s external trade.
The MSME sector also continued to generate employment, with the number of workers increasing 1.5% to 8.09 million people in 2025, compared with 7.97 million in the previous year.
As a result, MSMEs accounted for 48.7% of Malaysia’s total employment, up slightly from 48.5% in 2024, reflecting the sector’s importance as one of the country’s largest employers.
Labour productivity among MSMEs also strengthened during the year.
Value added per employee increased 4.1% to RM85,299 in 2025, compared with RM81,931 in 2024.
All major sectors recorded improvements in labour productivity, with the Construction sector posting the strongest growth of 10.8%, followed by Manufacturing (4.8%), Mining and quarrying (4.7%), Services (3.5%) and Agriculture (2.1%).
