KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 10): Malaysia’s industrial production index (IPI) climbed 3.6% year-on-year (y-o-y) in November 2024, faster than the 2% growth registered in the previous month, driven by higher manufacturing and electricity output.
The November IPI data beat Bloomberg consensus estimate of a 2.5% y-o-y increase.
In a statement on Friday, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said on a month-on-month basis, the IPI, which measures output in the manufacturing, mining, electric, and gas industries, grew by 0.5% in November, slower than the 1.7% recorded in October.
The key manufacturing sector expanded 4.6% y-o-y in November, up from October’s 3.3% rise, while electricity output grew by 3.9% compared with 1.9% in October. Meanwhile, the mining sector remained on a downward trend, but its contraction narrowed to 0.8%, compared with a 2.8% decline in October.
Domestic-oriented industries grew at a slower pace of 2.6% in November, down from 3.3% in October. This growth was primarily driven by the manufacture of food processing products, fabricated metal products (excluding machinery and equipment), and other non-metallic mineral products.
Output in export-oriented industries — which make up two-thirds of the manufacturing sector — expanded by 5.6% in November, compared with 3.3% in October, aligned with an increase in manufactured goods exports during the month.
Manufacturing sales also showed robust growth, rising 4.5% year-on-year to RM161.9 billion in November, according to a separate statement by the Department of Statistics. This was an improvement from the 3% year-on-year growth seen in October.
The growth in manufacturing sales was driven by a double-digit increase of 12.3% in the food, beverages, and tobacco sub-sector, as well as a 7.1% rise in the electrical and electronics products sub-sector.