Malaysia’s manufacturing sector sales value rose 3.5% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM162.5 billion in July 2025, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the growth was mainly driven by the food, beverages and tobacco sub-sector, which expanded by 8.9% in July 2025, compared with 14.7% in June 2025.
He said sales were also supported by the electrical and electronics (E&E) products sub-sector, which grew 6.9% (June: 4.5%), and the non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products sub-sector, which rose 3.8% (June: 3.0%).
“In the same period, sales value increased by 0.8%, reaching RM162.5 billion from RM161.2 billion recorded in the previous month,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
The DOSM said growth in the manufacturing sales value of export-oriented industries, which accounted for 71.7% of total sales, stood at 2.7% in July 2025.
This was driven by a 6.3% increase in the manufacture of vegetable and animal oils and fats (June 2025: 15.9%).
“The manufacture of computers, electronics and optical products grew by 6.9% (June 2025: 3.8%), while the manufacture of machinery and equipment (not elsewhere classified) advanced by 12.4% (June 2025: 10.5%).
“On a month-on-month comparison, export-oriented industries declined slightly by 0.3% (June 2025: 4.1%),” said the DOSM.
Similarly, domestic-oriented industries maintained steady growth at 5.6% in July 2025, supported by robust expansion in food processing products, which rose 12.7% (June 2025: 14.0%).
Growth was also contributed by the manufacture of basic metals (7.2%) and fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment (4.0%), as the domestic-oriented industries increased 3.8% compared with the preceding month.
Meanwhile, Mohd Uzir said total employment in the sector stood at 2.4 million persons in July, up 1.1% compared with 1.0% in June.
The increase was mainly driven by food, beverages and tobacco (2.0%), non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products (1.4%), and E&E products (1.4%). On a month-on-month basis, the number of employees increased 0.2%.
“Correspondingly, salaries and wages paid in the manufacturing sector grew 2.3% (June 2025: 1.6%) to RM8.31 billion in July 2025. However, salaries and wages declined 0.2% compared with RM8.33 billion recorded in the preceding month.
“Subsequently, sales value per employee was registered at RM67,833 (2.3%), while average salaries and wages per employee rose 1.2% y-o-y to RM3,469,” said Mohd Uzir.
For the January-July 2025 period, the manufacturing sector recorded cumulative sales of RM1.1 trillion, up 3.7% compared with 4.5% in the same period of 2024.
“The number of employees increased by 1.1% to 2.4 million persons, while salaries and wages grew 1.9% to RM58.5 billion. Moreover, sales value per employee stood at RM466,735, up 2.5%,” he added.
Source: theedgemalaysia