It said the expansion was attributed mainly to the performance in the manufacturing sector with a 5.1% increase (April: -3.0%), mining 2.9% (April: -4.9%); and electricity 5% (April: -2.0%).
The IPI accelerated by 7.3% after registering a contraction of 10.8% in April, the department said in a statement today.
DoSM highlighted that the rise in the manufacturing sector was propelled by the robust growth of 10.1% in domestic-oriented industries (April: -2.1%), supported by the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers (16.4%), and fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment (11.9%).
Similarly, the export-oriented industries grew by 2.8% (April: -3.5 %), backed by the rise in the manufacture of vegetable and animal oils and fats (13%), and coke and refined petroleum products (5.9%).
“On a month-on-month comparison, the manufacturing sector registered a positive growth of 7% as compared to negative 11.4% in April,” it added.
According to the department, the increase in output in the mining sector was induced by the gain in both crude oil and condensate index and natural gas index by 0.6% and 4.5% respectively.
“In comparison with the preceding month, the mining index expanded by 7.6% as compared to a contraction of 10.7% recorded in April,” it said.
For the first five months of 2023, the IPI moderated to 2% versus 4.1% in the same period of 2022.
“During the period, the manufacturing sector expanded by 2.4%, while mining and electricity sectors rose slightly by 0.9% and 0.1% respectively,” it added.
Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector’s sales value has returned to positive, recording 3.3% growth year-on-year to RM146.8 billion in May this year.
This was bolstered by the strong growth in among others, transport equipment and other manufacturers, non-metallic mineral products and electric and electronics products, said DoSM.
The transport equipment and other manufacturers recorded growth of 17.3%, non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products (8.7%); and electrical and electronics products (8.2%).
This brings the overall performance of sales value for the manufacturing sector from January to May to RM741.2 billion, increasing by 5.1% against the same period of the preceding year.
“The sales value of the manufacturing sector increased by 3.3% in May after recording a decline of 2% in the preceding month. On a month-on-month comparison, the sales value rebounded to 1.3% against -7.2% recorded in April,” it added.
The department said the sales value of export-oriented industries, which represented 71.6% of total sales, rebounded marginally by 0.2% in May after registering a decrease in April.
The domestic-oriented industries sustained positive momentum to record double-digit growth of 12.3% in May (April: 1.6%).