PUTRAJAYA: The manufacturing sector’s sales value rose 9.8 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM177 billion in June 2026, higher than the 8.9 per cent increase recorded in May 2026 (RM172.7 billion), according to the Department of Statistics (DOSM).
The growth was mainly driven by the electrical and electronics (E&E) products sub-sector, which registered a robust growth of 18.7 per cent.
"This positive momentum was further supported by the 4.8 per cent increase in petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products sub-sector; alongside a recovery in the food, beverages and tobacco sub-sector which rebounded to 2.2 per cent (May 2026: -5.3 per cent),” it said in a statement today.
Meanwhile, the department said sales value of export-oriented industries -- which accounted for 73.0 per cent of the sector’s total sales -- increased 10.6 per cent y-o-y in June 2026, driven by the rise in the manufacture of computer, electronics and optical products (20.7 per cent).
"Concurrently, the domestic-oriented industries expanded 7.7 per cent y-o-y in June 2026, following a marginal growth of 0.2 per cent in May 2026.
"This performance was primarily driven by the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers industry, which saw a double-digit growth of 14.0 per cent (May 2026: -9.1 per cent).
"Additionally, the manufacture of processed food products also rebounded to 7.0 per cent after declining 4.5 per cent in May 2026. On a month-on-month basis, the domestic-oriented industries increased 2.7 per cent,” it said.
DOSM added that the number of employees in the manufacturing sector rose by 1.2 per cent y-o-y to 2.4 million in June 2026, mainly supported by the growth in the food, beverages and tobacco (2.1 per cent) and the E&E products sub-sectors (1.6 per cent).
On the same note, salaries and wages paid in the manufacturing sector also increased by 3.1 per cent (May 2026: 2.9 per cent) in June 2026, amounting to RM8.59 billion.
Quarter-on-quarter, the manufacturing sector’s sales value grew by 9.3 per cent to RM524.8 billion in the second quarter of 2026 (2Q 2026), compared to 5.5 per cent charted in 1Q 2026.
Salaries and wages paid also grew by 3.1 per cent to RM25.7 billion, while sales value per employee also surged by 8.0 per cent to RM216,777.
According to DOSM, for the first half of 2026, the cumulative sales for the manufacturing sector stood at RM1.03 trillion, up by 7.4 per cent y-o-y (January - June 2025: 3.7 per cent).
Salaries and wages paid grew by 2.7 per cent to RM51.6 billion, while sales value per employee rose by 6.1 per cent to RM423,913. - Bernama
