Malaysia’s manufacturing sector recorded RM177.3 billion in sales in July 2026, up 9.1% year-on-year, driven by robust growth in electrical and electronics (E&E) products, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
The July performance followed manufacturing sales of RM177.0 billion in June. On a month-on-month basis, sales edged up 0.2%.
The E&E products sub-sector remained the main growth driver, with sales surging 17.8% year-on-year. Food, beverages and tobacco sales increased 3.9%, accelerating from 2.2% in June, while petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products grew 3.6%.
The latest figures reinforce the strength seen in Malaysia’s industrial production data for July, when manufacturing output expanded 6.4% year-on-year despite overall Industrial Production Index growth moderating to 4.7%.
Export-oriented industries, which accounted for 72.2% of total manufacturing sales, recorded a 9.9% year-on-year increase in July.
The performance was anchored by the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products, where sales increased 19.0%.
Machinery and equipment manufacturing also registered a strong acceleration, rising 17.8% compared with 9.9% in June, while coke and refined petroleum products grew 3.3%.
Despite the strong annual performance, sales from export-oriented industries fell 1.0% from June.
The continued expansion in electronics and machinery mirrors the strength in manufacturing production, with DOSM’s July IPI data showing output of computer, electronics and optical products rising 14.0%, while machinery and equipment production increased 14.6%.
Domestic-oriented industries also continued to expand, although growth moderated slightly to 7.2% year-on-year in July.
Basic metals led the increase with double-digit sales growth of 14.9%, strengthening from 10.6% in June.
Food processing sales rose 9.6%, compared with 7.0% previously, while the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers increased 5.0%.
Unlike the monthly decline among export-oriented manufacturers, domestic-oriented industries recorded a 3.2% month-on-month increase in sales.
Employment in the manufacturing sector stood at 2.4 million people in July, an increase of 1.1% from a year earlier and 0.1% from June.
Employment growth was led by food, beverages and tobacco, where the workforce expanded 2.2%, followed by non-metallic mineral products, basic metals and fabricated metal products at 1.9%. Employment in E&E products increased 1.3%.
Total salaries and wages paid by manufacturers increased 2.8% year-on-year to RM8.55 billion, although the amount was 0.5% lower compared with June.
Average salaries and wages per employee stood at RM3,527, up 1.7% year-on-year, while sales value per employee increased 7.9% to RM73,188.
For the first seven months of 2026, Malaysia’s manufacturing sector generated RM1.20 trillion in cumulative sales, an increase of 7.6% compared with the same period last year.
The pace of growth was more than double the 3.7% expansion recorded between January and July 2025.
Manufacturing employment increased 1.1% to 2.4 million people over the period, while salaries and wages rose 2.7% to RM60.1 billion.
Cumulative sales value per employee reached RM496,792, representing an increase of 6.4%.
The July figures point to continued resilience in Malaysia’s manufacturing sector, with E&E and other export-oriented industries providing the strongest impetus while domestic-oriented industries maintained broad-based growth.
