Malaysia’s manufacturing sector recorded RM185.0 billion in sales in August 2026, up 9.9% year-on-year and accelerating from 9.1% growth in July, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
The increase was led by the electrical and electronics equipment subsector, which expanded 22.6% compared with 17.8% in the previous month.
Petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products grew 5.2%, while food, beverages and tobacco products posted a more modest increase of 0.3%.
On a month-on-month basis, manufacturing sales rose 4.3% from RM177.3 billion in July.
Export-oriented industries, which accounted for 73.6% of total manufacturing sales, grew 12.1% year-on-year in August, up from 9.9% in July.
This was driven by a 24.9% increase in the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products, while coke and refined petroleum products rose 8.3% and furniture increased 8.4%.
Domestic-oriented industries grew at a slower 4.4% year-on-year, compared with 7.2% in July, supported by a 13.1% increase in basic metals and a 6.9% rise in food processing products. On a month-on-month basis, domestic-oriented sales contracted 0.9%.
Employment in the manufacturing sector stood at 2.4 million persons, up 1.2% year-on-year.
Total salaries and wages paid increased 3.5% to RM8.55 billion, while average monthly salary per employee rose 2.3% to RM3,519.
Sales value per employee increased 8.7% to RM76,148.
For the first eight months of 2026, cumulative manufacturing sales reached RM1.39 trillion, up 7.9% from the same period a year earlier.
Over the same period, employment increased 1.2% to 2.4 million persons, total salaries and wages rose 2.8% to RM68.7 billion, while sales value per employee increased 6.7% to RM573,597.
