Malaysia manufacturing sales climb 10% in June as exports power growth

Factory sales surge to a record RM177b in June as electronics boom continues.

PUTRAJAYA — Malaysia’s manufacturing sector notched up sales worth RM177 billion in June, a 9.8% year-on-year rise that outpaced May’s 8.9% increase (RM172.7 billion), the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said.

The growth was led once again by the electrical and electronics (E&E) sub-sector, which surged 18.7%. DOSM said momentum was further bolstered by a 4.8% rise in petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastics products, alongside a rebound in food, beverages and tobacco output, which climbed 2.2% having contracted 5.3% the month before.

Export-oriented industries, which account for 73% of the sector’s total sales, expanded 10.6% year on year, driven by a 20.7% jump in the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products.

For the first half of 2026, cumulative sales in the sector reached RM1.03t, up 7.4% on the same period last year, when growth stood at just 3.7%. Salaries and wages rose 2.7% to RM51.6b, whilst sales value per employee climbed 6.1% to RM423,913.

Processed food production also staged a recovery, rebounding 7% after a 4.5% decline in May, whilst domestic-oriented industries grew 2.7% month on month.

Employment in the sector rose 1.2% year on year to 2.4 million, buoyed chiefly by hiring in food, beverages and tobacco (up 2.1%) and the E&E sub-sector.