SME sector sees stronger GDP growth of 7.2% in 2017

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia's small and medium enterprise (SME) sector saw a stronger 7.2% gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2017 against 5.2% in 2016, according to the Department of Statistics.
The performance also exceeded Malaysia's GDP and the non-SME sector, which grew 5.9% and 5.1%, respectively last year.
The contribution of SMEs GDP to Malaysia's total GDP expanded to 37.1% for 2017 from 36.6% for 2016.
Value added of SMEs at constant prices 2010 was RM435.1 billion as compared with RM405.8 billion in 2016. In nominal terms, SMEs GDP recorded RM512.8 billion in 2017 versus RM463.5 billion in 2016.
SMEs value added for the services sector rose 7.3% in 2017 against 6.5% in 2016, driven by the wholesale & retail trade, food & beverage and accommodation subsector.
In the manufacturing sector, value added of SMEs increased to 6.8%, led by the food, beverages and tobacco subsector.
SMEs value added for the agriculture sector rebounded to 7.3% from a 1.9% contracttion in the previous year, attributable to the rubber, oil palm, livestock & other agriculture subsector.
SMEs in the construction sector recorded a slower growth of 6.6% with a value added of RM25.3 billion in 2017, due to the moderation in specialised construction activities and civil engineering as well as slower growth in residential buildings.
Meanwhile, value added of SMEs in the mining & quarrying sector went up 8.9% in 2017 from 8.2% in 2016.
SMEs exports increased RM12.3 billion or 7.9% to RM167.4 billion in 2017, supported by expansion in the services (+6.7%), manufacturing (+7.8%) and agriculture (+48.1%) sectors.
The contribution of SMEs employment to total employment increased from 65.3% in 2016 to 66% in 2017. The expansion was propelled by the higher performance of SMEs employment which outpaced the momentum of national employment.