KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 ― Malaysia’s manufacturing sales in January 2022 grew 13.1 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM139 billion compared to the same month in 2021, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

However, the sales value decreased by 3.4 per cent against the previous month.

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the growth in sales value was driven by the food, beverages and tobacco subsector, which went up 20.6 per cent y-o-y, especially in the food production industries.

“The expansion was also attributed by the petroleum, chemical, rubber, and plastic products subsectors, up 15.7 per cent y-o-y, and supported by the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum product industries as well as the electrical and electronics product subsector (up 10.6 per cent y-o-y), mainly in the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products,” he said in a statement today.

Sales value for export-oriented industries, which accounted for 71 per cent of total sales value, recorded an increase of 14.4 per cent while domestic-oriented industries posted an increment of 10.1 per cent in January 2022 compared to the same month in 2021.

The growth of sales value for export-oriented industries was in line with the double-digit growth registered in the external trade exports and the price factors that remained favourable, it said.

On a month-on-month comparison, export-oriented industries recorded a decline of 4.9 per cent while domestic-oriented industries increased 0.3 per cent.

The total employees engaged in the manufacturing sector in January 2022 were 2.27 million persons, an increase of 2.2 per cent compared to 2.23 million persons in January 2021.

The increase was contributed by electrical and electronic products (4.8 per cent), wood, furniture, paper products and printing (3.1 per cent), transport equipment, and other manufacturing of products (1.8 per cent).

DOSM also revealed that salaries and wages paid in January amounted to RM7.87 billion, an increase of 4.1 per cent, or RM307.3 million.

“Besides that, the sales value per employee increased 10.7 per cent to RM61,116 compared with the same month in 2021 (RM55,213).

“Meanwhile, the average salaries and wages per employee was RM3,459 in January 2022,” it said. ― Bernama