Chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the decline was attributed to the motor vehicles sub-sector, which slumped 58.1%.

“The decline was mainly dragged down by sales, maintenance and repair of motorcycles, which plunged 74.6%,” he said in a statement.

This was followed by retail and wholesale trade, which recorded a dip of 6.7% and 3.1% respectively.

On a quarter-on-quarter comparison, volume index decreased for the third consecutive quarter to 3.7%.

The retail trade sub-sector contracted 6.7% as sales in specialised stores declined 12.6%.

Retail sales of automotive fuels also tumbled 12%, followed by sales declines in household goods by 8.9%.

Slump in services sector

In a separate statement, Uzir noted that the services sector’s performance in the third quarter recorded RM391 billion with a negative growth of 8.7% on a year-on-year comparison.

He said the decline was attributed to the wholesale and retail trade, food and beverages, and accommodation segment, which decreased 9.5% to RM313.3 billion.

This was followed by the private health, private education, and arts, entertainment and recreation segment, which dropped 21.4% to RM10.9 billion.

“The weak performance of the services sector in the third quarter of 2021 indicates Malaysia is still battling with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Nevertheless, the rollout of the national vaccination programme and the country’s preparations for the endemic transition are seen to jump-start economic recovery in the upcoming quarters, allowing more economic activities to fully operate,” he said.