KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 29 — The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) has enumerated a total of 1.2 million establishments in the country following the Economic Census 2023 carried out from April to September 2023.

Based on the operational findings of the census for the reference year 2022, 1.09 million, or 86.6 per cent, of the total establishments recorded were operational or active, while 4.9 per cent of establishments had ceased operations, and 8.5 per cent were non-operational.

"Out of the 1.09 million active establishments in 2022, the services sector accounted for 949,360 establishments or 87.1 per cent share.

"This was followed by the construction sector with 71,165 establishments (6.5 per cent), the manufacturing sector with 54,484 establishments (5.0 per cent), the agriculture sector with 13,271 establishments (1.2 per cent), and the mining and quarrying sector with 1,350 establishments (0.1 per cent),” said chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin in a statement.

He said within the services sector, wholesale and retail trade recorded the highest share with 47.0 per cent, followed by food and beverage (14.4 per cent), and personal services and other activities (6.8 per cent).

"For the construction sector, special trade activities were the main contributor with 36.5 per cent, followed by civil engineering (22.7 per cent) and non-residential buildings (22.4 per cent).

"Meanwhile, for the manufacturing sector, non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated products sub-sector contributed the highest share with 19.0 per cent, followed by wood products, furniture, paper products and printing (17.9 per cent), and food products (17.0 per cent).

"Within the agriculture sector, crops sub-sector accounted for the largest share with 69.8 per cent, followed by livestock, which contributed 15.1 per cent, and fisheries (10.0 per cent),” he said.

For the mining and quarrying sector, the mineral mining and quarrying sub-sector contributed the most with 81.2 per cent, followed by petroleum and natural gas (18.8 per cent).

Mohd Uzir elaborated that out of the total active establishments, Selangor registered the highest share at 25.3 per cent, followed by Kuala Lumpur (13.8 per cent) and Johor (11.4 per cent).

In terms of business establishments that ceased their operations, the services sector registered the highest share, constituting 88.3 per cent out of 61,165 establishments, followed by construction (5.3 per cent), manufacturing (5.0 per cent), agriculture (0.8 per cent), and mining and quarrying (0.5 per cent) sectors.

"The imposition of social and economic restrictions nationwide in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic had severely impacted the economy, leading to the closure of business activities, especially micro and small establishments,” he said.

DoSM said more detailed findings of the Economic Census 2023 report are expected to be released by the end of March 2024.

Following this release, a multitude of reports derived from the census would be issued at different levels, providing valuable analysis, it added. — Bernama