Chief Statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said this was an increase of 7% over the previous record of RM116.2 billion in October.

“The increase in wholesale and retail trade was attributed to the wholesale trade sub-sector which recorded a positive growth of 6.8% or RM3.6 billion to register RM56.3 billion in November,” he said in a statement.

“Retail trade also expanded 6.7% or RM3 billion to RM47.8 billion.”

He said the increase was partly due to the reopening of various economic sectors, including interstate travel.

On performance across sub-sectors, Uzir said the increase in the wholesale trade sub-sector growth was supported by other specialised wholesale, which grew 7.6%, or RM1.6 billion, to RM22.1 billion.

This was followed by wholesale food, beverages and tobacco, which expanded 11.2% to RM11.4 billion.

Wholesale of agricultural raw materials and live animals also increased 15.5% to RM4.7 billion, driven by higher commodity prices.