Chief Statistician Uzir Mahidin said the manufacturing sector grew by 5.2% (May 2024: 4.6%), with a 4.9% turnaround in the mining sector production (May 2024: -6.9%) and a 3.5% growth in the electricity sector (May 2024: 4.5%).

Compared to the previous month, he noted that the IPI went up by 4.8% compared to 3.5% recorded in May, he said in a statement.

“The steady output growth in the manufacturing sector was bolstered by expansion in export-oriented industries at 5.4% (May 2024: 3.7%), marking the highest increase since September 2022.

“The strong production expansion was observed in the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products, which rebounded to 12.5% (May 2024: -5.5%), and the manufacture of vegetable and animal oils & fats, which accelerated by 11% (May 2024: 4.8%),” he said.

Uzir noted that the manufacture of computers, electronics, and optical products also supported growth at 4.9% in June (May 2024: 8.4%).

On a month-on-month basis, he said the export-oriented industries increased by 11.8% (May 2024: 9%), while the growth of domestic-oriented industries output grew modestly by 4.6% as against 6.4% recorded in May.

Domestic-oriented industries slipped by 5.4% in June, compared to the positive growth of 2.3% in the previous month.

“Looking at the performance of several countries, the IPI was positive in China, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, and the US.

“Conversely, Singapore, Thailand, and Japan experienced a decline in IPI in June,” Uzir shared.

He pointed out that for the second quarter of 2024 (Q2 2024), the IPI advanced further by 4.5% as against 3.3% recorded in Q1 2024, driven by the manufacturing sector’s growth of 4.9% (Q1 2024: 2.1%).

“Meanwhile, the IPI for the mining and electricity sectors grew modestly by 2.4% (Q1 2024: 5.9%) and 5.3% (Q1 2024: 9.1%) respectively.

“The IPI dropped by 1.2% in Q2 2024 against Q1 2024, influenced by a decline in the mining sector,” he added.