PETALING JAYA: The sales value of the manufacturing sector in January 2025 increased 3.5% year-on-year to RM158.1 billion (December 2024: 5.7%), the Department of Statistics Malaysia said in its monthly report.
Commenting on the latest manufacturing sales performance, Chief Statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said, “The increase of sales value in the manufacturing sector was primarily supported by the food, beverages & tobacco sub-sector which recorded a robust growth of 10.6% in January 2025 (December 2024: 14.6%). This was followed by the electrical & electronics products and non-metallic mineral products, basic metal & fabricated metal products sub-sectors at 7.3% (December 2024: 8.7%) and 2.1% (December 2024: 3.2%), respectively.”
Compared with the preceding month, the sales value decreased by 0.2% to RM158.1 billion from RM158.4 billion recorded in December 2024.
The sales value of export-oriented industries, which represented 70.2% of total sales, expanded by 5.1% in January 2025 (December 2024: 7.1%). The expansion was predominantly attributable to the increase in the manufacture of vegetable and animal oils and fats by 11.1% (December 2024: 17%).
The manufacture of computer, electronics and optical products rose by 7.7% (December 2024: 9.4%), while manufacture of rubber products grew by 8.9% (December 2024: 10.7%).
Domestic-oriented industries grew by 0.1% in January 2025 after registering a 2.5% increase in December 2024. The performance was due to a year-on-year decline in the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi trailers (-17.6%). However, this was offset by the manufacture of food processing products which maintained double-digit growth at 10.4% (December 2024: 11.2%); manufacture of fabricated metal products industry except machinery and equipment (3.1%); and the manufacture of beverages (9.1%). On a month-on-month basis, both export and domestic-oriented industries dropped by 0.2%.
On the number of employees, Mohd Uzir said, “There were 2.39 million persons engaged in this sector during January 2025, augmented by 0.9% (December 2024: 1%). The augmentation was mainly driven by the food, beverages and tobacco (2%); non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products (1.6%); and electrical and electronic products (0.6%) sub-sectors. On a month-on-month basis, the number of employees in this sector decreased 0.2%.
“On the same note, salaries and wages paid in the manufacturing sector posted an increase of 1.5% (December 2024: 1.7%), amounting to RM8.5 billion in January 2025. Comparison by month-on-month, salaries and wages paid dropped by 4.6%. Subsequently, the sales value per employee went up to RM66,011 (2.6%), while the average salaries and wages per employee was RM3,540, rose by 0.6% year-on-year.”
