Data from the statistics department (DoSM) shows that manufacturing sales hit RM146.8 billion in May.
The expansion was bolstered by the 17.3% growth in the sale of transport equipment as well as the continuous growth in other areas such as non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products as well as electrical and electronics products.
The sales value of export-oriented industries, which represented 71.6% of total sales, rebounded marginally by 0.2% in May 2023 after registering a decrease in April 2023.
“The increment was mainly contributed by the computer, electronics and optical products (7.9%), wood and cork products (7.5%) and coke and refined petroleum products (2.4%),” DoSM said in a statement today.
Overall, the various industries saw their growth gain momentum. In May, they recorded a 12.3% growth rate, up from 1.6% in April.
“This was primarily underpinned by the manufacturing of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers (20.1%), food processing (12.9%) and production of fabricated metal.”
Both export and domestic-oriented industries also saw a reversal in their fortunes. Export-oriented sectors registered a growth rate of 1.4% in May, while domestic-oriented ones grew 0.9%. Both saw a 7.2% contraction in April.
Overall, the sales value of the manufacturing sector amounted to RM741.2 billion for the period from January to May, up 5.1% compared with the same period in 2022.
Employment also registered growth. Salaries and wages paid in the manufacturing sector amounted to RM8.1 billion in May 2023, up 4% year-on-year.
On a month-on-month basis, it was up 1% from RM8 billion in April.
“The average monthly salary and wages per employee was RM3,438 in May 2023, up 1.4% from a year ago while the sales value per employee increased by 0.8% to RM62,315,” DoSM reported.
There were 2.36 million persons engaged in the manufacturing sector in May 2023, an increase of 2.6% compared with 2.3 million persons registered a year ago.
The food, beverage and tobacco products sub-sector led the increase with a 5.9% growth, followed by electrical and electronics with 4.2% and wood, furniture, paper and printing at 2.5%.