In a statement, it said the wholesale and retail trade sales value for the fourth quarter (Q4) 2023 recorded a total of RM428.8 billion, bringing the whole year’s total sales to RM1.7 trillion.

Chief Statistician Uzir Mahidin said the increase of 4.8% year-on-year (y-o-y) for wholesale and retail trade in December 2023 was driven by the retail trade sub-sector, which rose 5% or RM3 billion to register RM62.4 billion.

“Wholesale trade also expanded by registering 4.4% or RM2.6 billion to RM62.9 billion, followed by motor vehicles with a growth of 5.9% or RM1 billion to settle at RM18.6 billion,” he said.

Uzir noted that the 5.8% increase in Q4 2023 for wholesale and retail trade was underpinned by the wholesale trade sub-sector which rose RM9.8 billion or 5.4% to RM189.4 billion.

In addition, he said the wholesale and retail sales ended 2023 with a 7.7% increase, spurred by retail trade which increased RM59.7 billion or 9% to settle at RM720.8 billion.

In a separate note, the department said Malaysia’s volume index of wholesale and retail trade registered a growth of 4.2% y-o-y in Q4 2023 to reach 153.1 points, bringing the overall performance for 2023 to 5.6%.

Uzir said the increase was attributed to the motor vehicles sub-sector which soared 9.8%, followed by wholesale trade and retail trade which increased 4.6% and 2.9%, respectively.

“For a quarter-on-quarter comparison, the volume index edged up 0.8%, supported by motor vehicles which grew 3.7%,” he added.