KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's services sector recorded an 11% year-on-year (y-o-y) increase in revenue to RM732.5bil in the third quarter of 2026 (3Q26), supported by stronger consumer spending, tourism-related activities and demand for digital services.
In a statement, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said the wholesale and retail trade, food and beverage, and accommodation segment led the growth, with revenue rising 11.6% to RM554.7bil.
It said the sector's performance was partly supported by major events, including the Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism Exhibition (MAHA) 2026, MATTA Fair, Malaysia Games (SUKMA), concerts and school holidays.
The information and communication, and transportation and storage segment recorded a 9.7% increase in revenue to RM102.2bil.
Within the information and communication subsector, growth was supported by telecommunications, computer services and information services, particularly the expansion of data centre and cloud services.
Transportation and storage revenue rose 9.2%, with postal and courier services expanding 11.5% on continued e-commerce demand, while land transport grew 10.9%.
Meanwhile, revenue in the professional services, real estate, and administrative and support services segment increased 7.8%, led by real estate at 9.3%.
Administrative and support services recorded 9.2% growth, partly driven by demand for travel services.
The private health, private education, arts, entertainment and recreation, and personal and other services segment posted an 8.9% increase in revenue.
Personal and other services activities led the segment with 14.4% growth, while private health revenue rose 10.6%.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, overall services sector revenue increased 2.5%.
In volume terms, the Services Volume Index rose 5.9% y-o-y to 174.3 points, while increasing 2.5% from the preceding quarter.
Separately, e-commerce income grew 2.6% y-o-y to RM335.8bil in 3Q26, although it declined 0.6% from the previous quarter.
Employment in the services sector increased 2.2% y-o-y to 4.7 million persons, led by transportation and storage, which recorded 4.3% growth, followed by personal and other services activities at 3.2%.
Total salaries and wages rose 4.6% to RM36.1bil, with food and beverage and real estate recording increases of 9.9% and 9.7%, respectively.
