Malaysian manufacturing sector operating at near-full capacity

Manufacturing utilisation reaches 82.5% as all sub-sectors show robust performance.

Malaysia’s manufacturing industry demonstrated strong performance in the second quarter of 2025, with capacity utilisation reaching 82.5%, according to official figures released on Friday.

The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) reported that the utilisation rate had improved by 0.4 percentage points compared with the same period last year, when it stood at 82.1%.

The positive trend extended across the entire sector, with all sub-sectors achieving capacity utilisation rates above 80% for the quarter. Leading the way were non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products, which recorded the highest utilisation rate at 83.5%—an increase of 1.2 percentage points.

Close behind was the food, beverages and tobacco sub-sector, which saw utilisation rise to 83.3%, marking a substantial increase of 2.8 percentage points from the previous year.

The manufacturing sector also showed improvement when compared with the previous quarter, with capacity utilisation rising by 0.7 percentage points.

This strong utilisation performance aligned with broader industrial indicators, as the manufacturing sector’s industrial production index increased by 0.4% on a quarter-on-quarter basis during the same period.

The robust figures suggest Malaysia’s manufacturing base continues to operate efficiently, with near-optimal use of available production capacity across diverse industrial segments.