Malaysian factory sales climb 9% in May on E&E demand
The electronics rally offsets soft domestic demand as export industries pull ahead.
Malaysia’s manufacturing sector notched up sales worth RM172.7b in May 2026, an increase of 8.9%, according to figures released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
The Statistics Department attributed the bulk of the growth to a marked acceleration in the electrical and electronics (E&E) sub-sector, which climbed 26.4% in May, up sharply from 13.4% the previous month.
The sub-sector’s strength continued to anchor the broader export-oriented segment, which now accounts for the lion’s share of total factory output.
Export-oriented industries, representing 73.1% of total sales, surged 12.5% in May, compared with 9.9% in April. The advance was led by computer, electronics and optical products manufacturing, which expanded 30.9%, more than double April’s 15.2% pace.
Coke and refined petroleum products output also strengthened to 8.6% growth, from 5.9% in April, whilst machinery and equipment manufacturing eased slightly to 5.2%.
By contrast, domestic-oriented industries struggled to gain traction, inching up just 0.2% year on year after registering 7.4% growth in April.
What momentum there was came chiefly from construction-linked output — basic metals manufacturing rose 7.4% and fabricated metal products, excluding machinery and equipment, grew 5.9%.
On a month-on-month basis, however, the domestic segment fell 9.3%, underlining the fragility of home-market demand even as exporters thrived.
Set against April, the overall picture was more muted: sales value slipped 1.4% month on month, down from RM175.1b.
JOBS & WAGES
Factory payrolls edge higher, but real wage growth stays modest Employment in the sector continued to expand, with 2.4 million workers on manufacturing payrolls in May, up 1.1% year on year, albeit a slight slowdown from April’s 1.2%.
Hiring was strongest in food, beverages and tobacco, which grew 2.1%, followed by non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products at 1.7%, and the E&E sub-sector at 1.5%. Wage growth, though positive, lagged behind sales momentum.
Total salaries and wages paid rose 2.9% to RM8.56b, slightly softer than April’s 3.1% expansion, and fell 0.05% on a month-on-month basis. Sales value per employee reached RM71,184, a rise of 7.7%, whilst average pay per worker stood at RM3,529, up 1.8% year on year.
For the year to date, DOSM reported cumulative sales of RM849.3b for January to May, marking 6.9% growth against just 3.8% over the same period in 2025, with headcount up 1.1% to 2.4 million and total wages up 2.6% to RM43b.
