KUALA LUMPUR, April 11 — Malaysia’s Industrial Production Index (IPI) increased 3.9 per cent in February 2022 compared with the same month of the previous year, driven by the growth in the manufacturing sector, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM). 

Chief statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the manufacturing index increased 5.2 per cent, electricity index expanded 3.9 per cent, while mining index declined 0.4 per cent.

"On a month-on-month basis, the IPI decreased 6.6 per cent, affected by all components of indices,” he said in a statement, today. 

Mohd Uzir said the manufacturing sector output year-on-year increased 5.2 per cent in February 2022 after recording a growth of 6.8 per cent in January 2022.

He said the main subsectors contributing to the growth in the manufacturing sector in February 2022 were electrical and electronics products (12.8 per cent), transport equipment and other manufactures (8.4 per cent), and food, beverages and tobacco products (6.6 per cent).

"Simultaneously, the growth of the manufacturing sector was driven by both domestic-oriented industry (6.2 per cent) and export-oriented industry (4.7 per cent).” 

For month-on-month comparison, Mohd Uzir noted that the manufacturing sector decreased 7.2 per cent compared with January 2022, influenced by lower capacity utilisation, especially in the nonmetallic mineral products; basic metal and fabricated metal products; and food, beverages and tobacco products subsectors.

He said the mining sector output declined 0.4 per cent in February 2022 compared with the same period of the previous year.

"The deterioration was affected by a decrease of 4.3 per cent in crude oil and condensate index, while natural gas index grew 2.6 per cent. The mining index registered a decrease of 3.8 per cent compared with the previous month,” he said. 

Mohd Uzir said the electricity sector output rose 3.9 per cent in February 2022 compared with the same month of the previous year with the electricity index decreasing 8.4 per cent on month-on-month comparison. 

In the meantime, Mohd Uzir said the IPI in the period of January to February 2022 recorded an expansion of 4.1 per cent compared with the same period of the previous year. 

"The increment was supported by the rise in the manufacturing index (6.0 per cent) and electricity index (5.4 per cent), while mining index shrank 2.8 per cent,” he added.  — Bernama