Chief Statistician Uzir Mahidin said the bulk of the revenue was contributed by the wholesale and retail trade, food and beverages, and accommodation segment, which increased 5.9% to RM433.5 billion.

“This is followed by the information and communication, and transportation and storage; and professional, real estate, and administrative and support service segments, which grew by 10.1% and 9.9% to RM79.5 billion and RM35.8 billion, respectively,” he said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, Uzir said e-commerce income recorded RM280.5 billion in Q2 2023, increasing 2.5% y-o-y, but dropping 3.8% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q).

On a quarterly basis, total revenue for services in Q2 2023 rose 1.4% q-o-q or RM8 billion, according to the department.

Meanwhile, the number of persons engaged in the services sector rose 1.7% y-o-y to 4.4 million persons, according to the statement.

The rise is attributed to the wholesale and retail trade sub-sectors which increased by 1.6%, followed by the transportation and storage sub-sector, which rose by 4.3%.

“For q-o-q, the number of persons engaged grew by 0.4%, which amounted to 18,500 persons,” he said.

Meanwhile, salaries and wages paid in the sector registered an increase of RM1.2 billion, or 3.9% y-o-y.

Uzir attributed the growth to the wholesale and retail trade sub-sector, which rose 2% to record RM14 billion, followed by the transportation and storage sub-sector, which increased 6.3% to record RM2.9 billion.

“Meanwhile, for q-o-q comparison, salaries and wages grew 0.8% to register RM31.5 billion in Q2 2023,” he said.