KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's manufacturing sector saw a 5.7 per cent jump in sales value in April 2024, reaching RM153.2 billion.
The increase is attributed to a decrease in the value base effect, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).
"The increase was mainly propelled by sales in the sub-sectors of transport equipment & other manufactures (16.9 per cent), non-metallic mineral products, basic metal & fabricated metal products (12.8 per cent), and electrical & electronics products (2.7 per cent). "Nonetheless, the manufacturing sector sales value contracted by 3.3 per cent from RM158.4 billion registered in the preceding month," it said in a statement today.
For the overall performance of the manufacturing sector for the first four months of 2024, DoSM noted that the sales value of the manufacturing sector reached RM610.6 billion, increased by 2.7 per cent as compared to the same period of 2023 of 5.5 per cent.
During this period, the number of employees went up by 1.0 per cent to a total of 2.37 million persons, while salaries & wages grew by 1.2 per cent to RM32.9 billion.
Consequently, the sales value per employee stood at RM257,337 during the period, posting a growth of 1.7 per cent.
Meanwhile, DoSM said the sales value of export-oriented industries which contributed 69.9 per cent of total sales, turned upward by 3.4 per cent from a negative 0.1 per cent in March 2024.
The increase was attributable to the expansion in the manufacture of chemicals & chemical products (9.9 per cent), manufacture of vegetable & animal oils & fats (8.3 per cent), and manufacture of computer, electronics & optical products (2.9 per cent) industries.
The sales value of the domestic-oriented industries strengthened further by registering strong growth of 11.4 per cent in April 2024 compared to 5.4 per cent in March 2024.
The surge was propelled by the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers & semi-trailers; and the manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery & equipment, which surged by 23.1 per cent and 17.0 per cent, respectively.
As compared to the previous month, the sales value of domestic-oriented industries decreased by 1.9 per cent, in contrast to the positive 4.7 per cent recorded in March 2024.
According to DoSM, there were 2.37 million employees engaged in the manufacturing sector in April 2024, which rose by 1.0 per cent as compared to 2.35 million persons recorded a year ago.
The increase was predominantly in the food, beverages & tobacco (4.7 per cent), non-metallic mineral products, basic metal & fabricated metal products (2.3 per cent); and wood, furniture, paper products & printing (1.3 per cent) sub-sectors.
In comparison to the preceding month, the number of employees in the manufacturing sector increased marginally by 0.4 per cent.
The salaries & wages paid in the sector also grew by 1.2 per cent year-on-year to record RM8.11 billion in April 2024.
On a month-on-month comparison, the salaries & wages continued to decline by 1.4 per cent from RM8.23 billion recorded in March 2024.
The average monthly salaries & wages per employee was RM3,419 in April 2024, an uptick by 0.2 per cent as compared to a year ago, while the sales value per employee improved by 4.6 per cent to record RM64,583.