KUALA LUMPUR – The value of construction work done shrank by 14.2% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM31.7 billion in the fourth quarter (Q4) of last year, the Statistics Department said.
The special trades activities sub-sector soared by 29.3% y-o-y (Q3 2020: 1.6%) but all other subsectors continued to contract, said chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin.
“The civil engineering sub-sector declined by 25.0%, residential buildings sub-sector by 10.9% and non-residential buildings sub-sector by 6.3%,” he said in a statement today.
Uzir said the civil engineering sub-sector remained dominant with the biggest share of the value of construction work done, at 39.6%. This marked its 21st quarter at the top since Q4 2015.
It was followed by non-residential buildings (a 27.5% share), residential buildings (25.4%), and special trades activities (7.4%).
The private sector continued to lead construction activity with a 55.7% share or RM17.7 billion of the total value of construction work done.
For the whole of last year, the value of construction work done contracted by 19.4% to RM117.9 billion from RM146.4 billion in 2019.
All sub-sectors recorded a decline in the value of construction work done. The civil engineering sub-sector decreased 24.0%, residential buildings sub-sector fell 17.2%, non-residential buildings sub-sector dipped 17.1%, and special trades activities subsector shrank 2.1%.
In a separate statement, Uzir said the building material cost index (BCI) without steel bars for almost all regions in Peninsular Malaysia increased by between 0.1% and 2.0% for almost all building categories in January 2021 compared with the previous month.
Meanwhile, the BCI in regions E (Pahang) and F (Terengganu and Kelantan) decreased between 0.1 and 1.0% for almost all categories of building.
For the BCI with steel bars, Uzir noted it increased for almost all regions in Peninsular Malaysia by between 0.1 and 2.1% for almost all building categories except for accommodation and offices five storeys and above (reinforced concrete) in region D (Johor). – Bernama, February 10, 2021
