Wholesale, retail trade sales value surges 33.7% to RM133.7 bil in Aug

KUALA LUMPUR – The sales value of wholesale and retail trade in Malaysia set a new record again in August 2022, rallying 33.7% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM133.7 billion, the Statistics Department (DoSM) said.

DoSM said the increase in wholesale and retail trade was attributed to the retail trade sub-sector, which rose RM14.6 billion, or 34.5%, to RM57 billion. 

“Within the same period, motor vehicles increased RM10.8 billion, or 185.3%, to RM16.6 billion, followed by wholesale trade which surged RM8.3 billion, or 16%, to RM60.1 billion.

“For month-on-month (m-o-m) comparison, sales value increased 2.6%, contributed by the motor vehicles sub-sector which rose 17.8%,” it said in a statement.

For the performance across sub-sectors, DoSM said the retail trade sub-sector growth of 34.5% in August 2022 was supported by retail sales in non-specialised stores which grew RM5.7 billion, or 37.1%, to RM21.1 billion.

“Likewise, other groups in this sub-sector also recorded positive growth, namely retail sales in specialised stores at RM3.7 billion, retail sales of automotive fuels (RM1.8 billion), and retail sales of household goods (RM1.5 billion).

“The motor vehicles sub-sector, which recorded a 185.3% increase, was lifted by sales of motor vehicles which expanded 206.3%, or RM6.4 billion to RM9.5 billion.

“This was followed by motor vehicle parts and accessories sales, motor vehicles maintenance, repair and sales, and motorcycle maintenance and repair with RM2.2 billion, RM1.2 billion, and RM1.0 billion, respectively,” it said.

DoSM said the increase in the wholesale trade sub-sector which rose by 16% to record RM60.1 billion was mainly attributed to other specialised wholesale, which rose 16.8%, or RM3.4 billion, to RM23.6 billion. 

It said among the groups that contributed to this growth were the wholesale of household goods (RM2.7 billion), wholesale of food, beverages and tobacco (RM600 million), and wholesale of machinery, equipment and supplies (RM600 million).

“In terms of volume index, wholesale and retail trade registered a y-o-y growth of 27.0%.

“The expansion was contributed by motor vehicles and retail trade which increased 169.6% and 30.1%, respectively. 

“Similarly, wholesale trade also recorded positive growth with 7.4%. For seasonally adjusted volume index, it went up 3.1% m-o-m,” it added. – Bernama, October 12, 2022