KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 17): Malaysia’s economy may have expanded a tad slower than expected in the final quarter of 2024 (4Q2024), as services picked up, while growth of manufacturing and construction activities eased, official flash estimates showed.
Gross domestic product (GDP) likely rose 4.8% in the October-December quarter from a year earlier, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia’s (DOSM) advance estimates released on Friday. That compares with the median 5.1% rise predicted in a Bloomberg survey. In the third quarter, the economy grew 5.3%.
Overall, Malaysia’s economy grew 5.1% in 2024, faster than the 3.6% expansion in 2023.
“Malaysia’s economic growth is supported by strong domestic demand and a recovering external sector, alongside strategic investments in areas like renewable energy and digital infrastructure, including data centres,” said Malaysia’s chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin.
Further, influx of tourist arrivals and civil servant pay increase are expected to further boost household spending and retail activity, contributing positively to overall economic momentum,” he added.
Sector breakdown
The services sector, which accounts for more than half of the economic output, expanded 5.3% in the fourth quarter, slightly faster than the 5.2% year-on-year growth in the third quarter, led by the wholesale-and-retail, transportation-and-storage, and information-and-communication sub-sectors.
The pace of manufacturing growth, meanwhile, slowed year-on-year to 4.3% versus 5.6% in the third quarter, mainly supported by electrical, electronic and optical products, as well as petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products.
Construction activities were up 19.6%, with both the residential and non-residential buildings segments growing strongly, versus a 19.9% increase in the third quarter.
However, the agriculture sector contracted 0.6% in the fourth quarter, dragged by the palm oil sub-sector, compared to a growth of 3.9% in the preceding quarter. Mining production continued to shrink, down 1.4% in the fourth quarter, from 3.9% previously, due to the decline in crude oil and condensate.
The detailed and comprehensive analysis for fourth-quarter GDP data will be released on Feb 14.