Wholesale, retail trade sales up 6.7% in August to RM142.5bil

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s wholesale and retail trade recorded sales value of RM142.5 billion, an increase of 6.7 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in August 2023, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).

On a month-on-month comparison, sales value grew 2.0 per cent, it added.

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the increase of 6.7 per cent y-o-y for wholesale and retail trade in August 2023 was attributed to the wholesale trade sub-sector, which rose 6.2 per cent or RM3.7 billion to RM63.9 billion.

“Retail trade also expanded by 6.3 per cent or RM3.6 billion to RM60.5 billion, followed by motor vehicles which grew 9.7 per cent or RM1.6 billion to RM18.1 billion,” he said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, the 2.0 per cent or RM2.8 billion increase from the previous month was contributed by motor vehicles with an increase of RM1.2 billion or 7.1 per cent, while retail trade recorded a positive growth of 1.4 per cent or RM0.9 billion in the same period.

Additionally, the wholesale trade rose 1.2 per cent or RM0.8 billion as compared to the previous month, he said.

Looking at the performance across sub-sectors, Mohd Uzir said that the growth of 6.2 per cent y-o-y in wholesale trade was attributed to other specialised wholesale which rose RM1.5 billion or 6.2 per cent to RM25.0 billion.

Commenting further on the retail trade sub-sector, he said the increase of 6.3 per cent y-o-y in the month reviewed was supported by retail sales in non-specialised stores which grew 9.2 per cent or RM1.9 billion to RM23.0 billion.

“The y-o-y growth of 9.7 per cent for motor vehicles sub-sector in August was fuelled by sales of motor vehicles parts and accessories which grew 20.7 per cent or RM0.8 billion to RM4.7 billion. This was followed by sales of motor vehicles (6.2 per cent) and maintenance and repair of motor vehicles (21.6 per cent).

“For monthly comparison, this sub-sector rose 7.1 per cent, driven by sales of motor vehicles (13.2 per cent), sales of motor vehicles parts and accessories (1.6 per cent), and maintenance and repair of motor vehicles (1.8 per cent),” said Mohd Uzir.

The index of retail sale over the Internet recorded a 1.0 per cent growth y-o-y in August 2023 as compared to 0.4 per cent in July 2023, he said.

“For seasonally adjusted value, the index went up 3.9 per cent as against the previous month,” he added. – Bernama