KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 ― Malaysia's manufacturing sector saw its sales value fall 3.3 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM152.3 billion in August 2023, mainly due to the petroleum chemical, rubber and plastic sub-sector which shrank 12.1 per cent, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).

In a statement today, chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the decline in August was also attributable to the contraction in the food, beverages and tobacco sub-sector by 6.6 per cent and the wood, furniture, paper products and printing sub-sector by 0.1 per cent.

On a monthly basis, he said the sales value in the month rebounded to 5.8 per cent versus a 2.4 per cent contraction in July 2023.

On export-oriented industries, Mohd Uzir said the sales value, which accounted for 72.7 per cent of total sales, decreased 6.7 per cent in August 2023 from a contraction of seven per cent in July 2023, mainly owing to the lower sales in the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products (-19.7 per cent), manufacture of vegetable and animal oils and fats (-15.1 per cent) and the manufacture of rubber products (-8.8 per cent).

On the domestic-oriented industries, he said the sales value grew 7.2 per cent in August 2023 versus 9.1 per cent in the previous month.

For the first eight months of 2023, Mohd Uzir said the sales value of the manufacturing sector stood at RM1.2 trillion, up 1.7 per cent as compared to the same period in the preceding year.

In terms of the number of employees, he said the manufacturing sector engaged 2.36 million persons in August 2023, up two per cent from 2.31 million persons engaged in the same period last year.

"In line with the increase in employment, the salaries and wages paid in the manufacturing sector grew three per cent y-o-y, amounting to RM8 billion in August 2023,” he said.

On a month-on-month comparison, Mohd Uzir said the salaries and wages increased 0.9 per cent from RM7.9 billion recorded in July 2023.

During the January to August 2023 period, the number of employees rose two per cent y-o-y to 2.36 million persons, while salaries and wages grew 3.7 per cent y-o-y to RM64.6 billion, he added. ― Bernama