MALAYSIA’S manufacturing sales value in August expanded 24.4% to RM157.4 billion.

The better performance was driven by the sub-sectors of electrical and electronics (E&E), petroleum, chemicals, rubber and plastics as well as food, beverage and tobacco products.

The E&E products sub-sector contributed 25.8% to the sales value; petroleum, chemicals, rubber and plastic products sub-sector (27.6%), and the food, beverage and tobacco products sub-sector (18.4%), according to the Statistics Department.

The total number of employees engaged in the manufacturing sector in August was 2.31 million persons, an increase of 4.3% against 2.2 million persons in August last year.

“The increment was contributed by the E&E products (6.9%), wood, furniture, paper products and printing (4.9%) and non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products (3.2%),” it said in a statement today.

The department said that salaries and wages paid amounted to RM7.77 billion, an increase of 7.5% in August against the same month of the preceding year.

The sales value per employee rose by 19.3% to record RM68,174 compared with the same month in 2021 while the average salaries and wages per employee were RM3,365.

For the period of January to August, the sales value of the manufacturing sector jumped 17.4% to RM1.16 billion compared with the same period last year.

“At the same time, the number of employees increased 4.3% to 2.31 million persons while salaries and wages expanded 5.3% to RM62.3 billion.

“Meanwhile, the sales value per employee recorded RM504,321 for in the similar period with a growth of 12.5% year-on-year,” it added. – Bernama, October 12, 2022.