Chief statistician Uzir Mahidin noted that while the sector’s sales continue to grow, the pace slowed compared to the 7.7% growth recorded in August.
“The rise was mainly driven by the electrical and electronics (E&E) products sub-sector, which grew by 5.8% following a 10.3% increase in August 2024.
“Growth was also supported by the food, beverages, and tobacco sub-sector, which increased by 5.6%, and the non-metallic mineral products, basic metal, and fabricated metal products, up by 5.1%,” he said in a statement.
Month-on-month, Uzir said the sales value eased by 1% from RM163.9 billion in August 2024.
Export-oriented industries, which contributed 72.6% of total sales, moderated to 3% increase in September 2024 (August 2024: 7.7%).
Key contributors included the manufacture of computers, electronics, and optical products (6.9%) and the manufacture of vegetable and animal oils and fats (4.6%).
Meanwhile, domestic-oriented industries grew by 2.5% down from 7.6% in August, impacted by a 7.3% decline in the sales value of motor vehicles, trailers, and semi-trailers industry compared to a 10.4% increase in the preceding month.
Offsetting the decline, he noted the manufacture of food processing products grew by 6.9%, along with the fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment (7.9%) and the manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products (4.1%).
Compared to the previous month, the sales value of both export and domestic-oriented industries fell 1.1% and 0.7%, respectively.
“There were 2.39 million employees in the manufacturing sector in September 2024, marking a 0.8% increase compared to a 1% growth in August 2024, driven by increases in the food, beverages, and tobacco (2.4%) and the non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products (1.8%),” he shared.
Month-on-month, the number of employees grew by 0.5%, up from 0.4% in August.
Salaries and wages in the sector rose by 1.2% y-o-y in September, reaching RM8.23 billion.
Compared to the previous month, this represented a 1.4% increase, following a slight 0.1% decline in August.
“This led to an increase in average monthly salaries and wages per employee by 0.4% y-o-y to RM3,442.
“Simultaneously, the sales value per employee rose by 2.1% to record RM67,861,” Uzir added.
For the third quarter of 2024, he said sales of the manufacturing sector reached RM483.2 billion, reflecting a growth of 6.5% (Q2 2024: 5.7%), attributable to the increase in the food, beverages and tobacco sub-sector (12.3%); and E&E products (8.1%) sub-sectors.
He added for January to September 2024, the sector’s cumulative sales value reached RM1,404.8 billion, a 4.6% increase compared to the same period in 2023 (January–September 2023: 1.2%).