KUALA LUMPUR: The manufacturing sector's July 2024 sales value reached RM157.1 billion, registering a 9.1 per cent jump versus the previous corresponding month and marking its highest growth since February 2023, said the Department of Statistics (DOSM).
In a statement today, chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the increase was primarily driven by a 16.0 per cent double-digit growth from the food, beverages and tobacco sub-sector.
"This was followed by electrical and electronics products at 8.2 per cent and the Petroleum chemical, rubber and plastic at 6.2 per cent.
"On a month-to-month basis, the sales value grew by 0.6 per cent from RM156.1 billion in June 2024 (0.8 per cent)," he said.
DOSM said export-oriented industries, which constituted 72.3 per cent of the total sales value, stayed robust, with a 9.4 per cent growth in July 2024 after registering 6.0 per cent in the preceding month.
It said the better performance was attributable to the increase in the manufacture of computer, electronics and optical products (9.1 per cent), the manufacture of vegetable and animal oils and fats (23.5 per cent), and the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products (4.8 per cent) industries.
For a month-on-month comparison, DOSM said the sales value of the export-oriented industries dropped marginally by 0.5 per cent.
Similarly, it said domestic-oriented industries strengthened at 8.4 per cent, mainly influenced by manufacturing food processing products at 7.0 per cent.
In the meantime, DOSM said the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers industry rebounded to 6.2 per cent from a decline of 5.2 per cent recorded in the preceding month.
For a comparison on a monthly basis, it said the sales value of domestic-oriented industries turned upward by 3.7 per cent after registering a declining trend since April 2024.
"There were 2.37 million employees engaged in the Manufacturing sector in July 2024, an increase of 1.3 per cent (June 2024: 1.0 per cent) as compared to a year ago.
"The growth was predominantly attributed to food, beverages and tobacco (4.0 per cent); non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products (2.3 per cent); and wood, furniture, paper products and printing (1.2 per cent)," it said.
DOSM said the number of employees in the manufacturing sector in July declined slightly by 0.01 per cent compared to 0.3 per cent in the preceding month.
In the meantime, the salaries and wages paid in the manufacturing sector rose by 2.4 per cent, reaching a total of RM8.12 billion, resulting in the increase of average monthly salaries and wages per employee by 1.2 per cent year-on-year to RM3,429.
Simultaneously, Mohd Uzir said the sales value per employee rose by 7.8 per cent to a record RM66,285 compared to RM65,874 in June 2024.
"For the first seven months of this year, the manufacturing sector's cumulative sales value reached RM1,078.6 billion, an increase of 4.5 per cent compared to the same period of 2023," he added.
Mohd Uzir said the number of employees increased by 1.3 per cent to 2.37 million persons, while salaries and wages grew by 1.5 per cent to RM57.4 billion.
"The sales value per employee stood at RM455,213, posting a growth of 3.2 per cent," he added.