PUTRAJAYA: In the third quarter of 2023, the construction sector work done value soared by 9.6% which amounted to RM33.4 billion, said the Department of Statistics, Malaysia.
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said, “The value of work done in the construction sector continued to sustain its positive pace for the sixth quarter with year-on-year growth of 9.6% in the third quarter of 2023 (Q2’23: 8.1%). The momentum was driven by a double-digit growth in the civil engineering sub-sector, which increased by 17.1% (Q2’23: 10.4%); and a surge in the special trade activities by 16.2% (Q2’23: 9.8%).”
The residential buildings, he added also contributed to the growth by recording 7.9% (Q2’23: 6.9%). Meanwhile, the sub-sector of non-residential buildings decreased marginally by 0.7%, in contrast to the 5.7% growth in the previous quarter.
Meanwhile, the value of work done for non-residential buildings and residential buildings was RM9.2 billion (27.5%) and RM7.3 billion (21.9%), respectively.
The special trade activities contributed RM3.4 billion (10%), primarily in plumbing, heat and air-conditioning installation (RM1.1 billion); and electrical installation (RM0.9 billion) activities.
The private sector continued as the main impetus to the growth in this quarter, with an increase of 8.6% (Q2’23: 17.3%) which came from special trade activities (26.5%) and civil engineering (10.2%). The value of work done by the private sector amounted to RM19.6 billion or 58.5% of the total construction work done value.
The public sector, with a 41.5% share or RM13.9 billion, rebounded strongly, recording a double-digit growth of 10.9% compared to a decline of 4.8% in the previous quarter. This rebound was fuelled by civil engineering (19.2%) and residential buildings (14.8%) activities totalling RM10.6 billion and RM0.5 billion, respectively.
Elaborating on the performance of the construction sector by state, Mohd Uzir stated, “Nearly 60% of the work done value in the third quarter of 2023 was concentrated in Selangor, Wilayah Persekutuan (Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan), Sarawak and Johor.
“The construction value in Selangor amounted to RM8.1 billion or 24.2%, attributed to civil engineering (RM2.8 billion), followed by residential buildings and non-residential buildings with both at RM2.2 billion.”
Wilayah Persekutuan ranked second with a value of RM4.3 billion or 12.8%, primarily in residential (RM1.7 billion) and non-residential (RM1.4 billion) activities. In addition, the work value in Sarawak was RM3.8 billion (11.4%) and Johor recorded RM3.5 billion (10.6%).
Summarising the performance of the construction work done for the first three quarters of 2023, it registered a value of RM98 billion, reflecting a 9% increase compared to the corresponding period in 2022 (Q1 to Q3’23: 6.6%).
Notably, the positive growth was propelled by the significant contribution of civil engineering activities (14.9%).
