Manufacturing Sector's July Sales Value Hits RM157.1 Bln, Highest Growth Since Feb 2023 - DOSM

The manufacturing sector's July 2024 sales value reached RM157.1 billion, registering a 9.1% jump versus the previous corresponding month and marking its highest growth since February 2023, said the Department of Statistics (DOSM).

In a statement, chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the increase was primarily driven by a 16.0% double-digit growth from the food, beverages and tobacco sub-sector.

“This was followed by electrical and electronics products at 8.2% and the Petroleum chemical, rubber and plastic at 6.2%.

“On a month-to-month basis, the sales value grew by 0.6% from RM156.1 billion in June 2024 (0.8%),” he said.

DOSM said export-oriented industries, which constituted 72.3% of the total sales value, stayed robust, with a 9.4% growth in July 2024 after registering 6.0% in the preceding month.

It said the better performance was attributable to the increase in the manufacture of computer, electronics and optical products (9.1%), the manufacture of vegetable and animal oils and fats (23.5%), and the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products (4.8%) industries.

For a month-on-month comparison, DOSM said the sales value of the export-oriented industries dropped marginally by 0.5%.

Similarly, it said domestic-oriented industries strengthened at 8.4%, mainly influenced by manufacturing food processing products at 7.0%.

In the meantime, DOSM said the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers industry rebounded to 6.2% from a decline of 5.2% recorded in the preceding month.

For a comparison on a monthly basis, it said the sales value of domestic-oriented industries turned upward by 3.7% after registering a declining trend since April 2024.

“There were 2.37 million employees engaged in the Manufacturing sector in July 2024, an increase of 1.3% (June 2024: 1.0%) as compared to a year ago.

“The growth was predominantly attributed to food, beverages and tobacco (4.0%); non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products (2.3%); and wood, furniture, paper products and printing (1.2%),” it said.

DOSM said the number of employees in the manufacturing sector in July declined slightly by 0.01% compared to 0.3% in the preceding month.

In the meantime, the salaries and wages paid in the manufacturing sector rose by 2.4%, reaching a total of RM8.12 billion, resulting in the increase of average monthly salaries and wages per employee by 1.2% year-on-year to RM3,429.

Simultaneously, Mohd Uzir said the sales value per employee rose by 7.8% to a record RM66,285 compared to RM65,874 in June 2024.

“For the first seven months of this year, the manufacturing sector's cumulative sales value reached RM1,078.6 billion, an increase of 4.5% compared to the same period of 2023,” he added.

Mohd Uzir said the number of employees increased by 1.3% to 2.37 million persons, while salaries and wages grew by 1.5% to RM57.4 billion.

“The sales value per employee stood at RM455,213, posting a growth of 3.2%,” he added.