PETALING JAYA: The manufacturing sector posted sales of RM171.7 billion in October 2025, a year-on-year expansion of 6.3% (September 2025: 4.3%), according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia.
Chief Statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said, “The growth in sales value within the manufacturing sector was mainly contributed by the electrical & electronic products sub-sector, which surged 11.5% in October 2025 (September 2025: 6.4%).”
The growth was further supported by the food, beverages & tobacco and the non-metallic mineral products, basic metal & fabricated metal products sub-sectors, which rose by 11.6% (September 2025: 9.1%) and 4.6% (September 2025: 2.7%), respectively.
Month-on-month, the sales value in October increased by 1.4%, from RM169.3 billion in September 2025.
Sales value growth in export-oriented industries, which accounted for 71.9% of total sales, improved by 6.9% in October 2025 (September 2025: 3.8%).The performance was primarily influenced by the increase in the manufacture of computer, electronics & optical products by 12.1% (September 2025: 6.1%).
Meanwhile, the manufacture of vegetable & animal oils & fats grew by 13.4% (September2025: 7.8%), and the manufacture of electrical equipment grew by 8.9% (September 2025: 10.1%).
Month-on-month, export-oriented industries grew 0.9% (September 2025: 0.7%). Likewise, domestic-oriented industries increased 4.8% in October 2025, after registering 5.7% growth a month ago.
The performance was supported by robust growth in the manufacture of food-processing products with 8.5% in October 2025 (September 2025: 10.5%), as well as in the manufacture of basic metals (6.6%) and manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery & equipment (6.3%).
Furthermore, domestic-oriented industries increased 2.7% compared to the preceding month.
Commenting on the number of employees, Mohd Uzir stated, “A total of 2.4 million employees were recorded in this sector during October 2025, augmented by 1.1% (September 2025: 1%). The augmentation was mainly driven by the food, beverages & tobacco (2%); electrical & electronic products (1.5%); and non-metallic mineral products, basic metal & fabricated metal products (1.1%).
On a month-on-month basis, the number of employees in this sector increased at 0.5%. Correspondingly, the salaries and wages paid in the manufacturing sector posted an expansion of 2.4% (September 2025: 2%), amounting to RM8.5 billion in October 2025.
Mohd Uzir said, “For the period of January to October 2025, the manufacturing sector recorded cumulative sales of RM1.6 trillion, growing 3.9% compared to the same period of 2024 (January-October 2024: 4.5%). The number of employees upticked by 1.1% to 2.4 million persons, while salaries and wages increased by 1.9% to RM83.7 billion.”
Malaysia has, for the first time, secured the top position globally in the biennial Open Data Inventory 2024/25 Report released by Open Data Watch, surpassing 197 other countries. This achievement marks a significant leap from its 67th position in the 2022/23 assessment.
