PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s agrofood subsector demonstrated strong growth across key commodities, with vegetables leading the expansion, followed by spices, fruits and industrial crops, the Department of Statistics Malaysia reported today.
This positive momentum, alongside steady gains in livestock and fisheries production, underscores the sector’s resilience and its critical role in ensuring national food security.
Amid a gradually stabilising global economy, the OECD Economic Outlook projects global gross domestic product growth at 3.2% in 2025, before moderating to 2.9% in 2026 as fiscal conditions tighten and global trade remains subdued.
Growth is expected to edge up to 3.1% in 2027, supported by easing inflation and more accommodative financial conditions. Nevertheless, lingering trade weakness and constrained fiscal space continue to pose downside risks, tempering the momentum of the global recovery.
Highlighting recent economic performance, Chief Statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin stated, “Supported by resilient domestic demand, Malaysia’s economy recorded a cumulative growth of 4.7% in the first three quarters of 2025, moderating from 5.2% in the corresponding period last year. The services sector remained the main driver, underpinned by steady domestic demand, while manufacturing expanded moderately and construction continued to record strong growth.”
Agriculture and mining & quarrying exhibited mixed performance, reflecting the effects of weather conditions and changes in commodity prices.
Following Malaysia’s steady economic performance, the Industrial Production Index strengthened further in October 2025, rising by 6% year-on-year from 5.7% in September.
The manufacturing sector led the expansion with a growth of 6.5%, supported by continued expansion in mining sector at 5.8%, while the electricity sector recorded a more moderate increase of 1.2%.
Taking a broader view of Malaysia’s services sector, total sales in wholesale & retail trade reached RM160.9 billion in October 2025, marking a 7.2% year-on-year increase.
Leading the momentum, wholesale trade recorded RM71.2 billion in sales, up RM4.8 billion or 7.3% from the previous year, reflecting robust commercial activity.
Meanwhile, retail trade contributed strongly with RM69.3 billion in sales, rising RM4.4 billion or 6.8% year-on-year, supported by steady consumer demand. The motor vehicles sub-sector performed well, posting RM20.4 billion in sales, up RM1.5 billion or 8.2% compared to October 2024.
Focusing on Malaysia’s external trade trends, Malaysia’s merchandise trade increased by 13.6% year-on-year to RM277.6 billion in October 2025, supported by robust export performance. Exports rose 15.7% to RM148.3 billion, while imports increased 11.2% to RM129.3 billion.
From a price perspective, Malaysia’s inflation moderated to 1.3% year-on-year in October 2025, down from 1.5% in September. The moderation was largely influenced by slower increases in food & beverages (1.5%) and housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels (1.1%), while higher price increases were recorded in personal care, social protection & miscellaneous goods & services (6%), restaurants & accommodation services (3.4%, and health (1.5%).
Malaysia’s labour force grew 2.8% year-on-year to 17.06 million persons in October 2025 (October 2024: 17.10 million), while the number of employed persons increased 0.2% month-on-month. The Labour Force Participation Rate remained steady at 70.9%, marking a 0.3 percentage point rise from a year earlier.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate stayed at 3% on a monthly basis, declining 0.2 percentage points year-on-year, reflecting continued resilience in Malaysia’s labour market.
Malaysia’s Leading Index advanced by 3.6% year-on-year to 116.2 points in October 2025 (October 2024: 112.2), supported mainly by higher approvals of housing units, as well as notable increases in real imports of semiconductors and other basic precious and non-ferrous metals.
