Chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin also noted that in the first quarter of 2021, e-commerce income recorded RM254.6 billion, an increase of 30% from the corresponding period last year, due to the manufacturing and services sector.

In a statement, Uzir said the better performance was supported by the new normal of Covid-19 which gave a huge boost to digitalisation among businesses.

“In view of e-commerce income by market segment, the income of the local segment generated from sales conducted in Malaysia rose 21.7 % to RM591.8 billion in 2019. Sales for the international market went up 31.9% to RM83.5 billion.

“Accordingly, e-commerce income by type of customers via business to business (B2B) increased 13.0% to RM449.6 billion, followed by business to consumer (B2C) 53.3% to RM194.0 billion. Business to government (B2G) grew 55.7% to RM31.8 billion,” he said.

Uzir added that e-commerce expenditure recorded an increase of 14.8% to RM301.5 billion and that the local market segment surged 15.3% to RM269.6 billion while the international market grew 10.8% to RM31.9 billion.

E-commerce expenditure by type of market via B2B rose 14.1% to RM277.6 billion and B2C increased by 24.6% to RM14.4 billion. B2G grew 22.6% to RM9.1 billion.

“Subsequently, there was an increase in internet usage of 11.9 percentage points to 85.2%, followed by the use of computers which rose by 7.3% percentage points to 86.2%. In terms of web presence, it increased by 16.1% percentage points to 52.9%.

“The rapid growth in the use of information, communication and technology (ICT) and e-commerce in Malaysia shows that companies have shifted towards the digital path in line with global technological developments,” he said.