ANN/THE STAR – Malaysia’s wholesale and retail trade set a new sales record in May 2022, growing 19.9% year-on-year (year-on-year) to 129, MYR 8 billion – the highest sales recorded since 2013, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) said.
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin attributed the increase to the retail trade sub-sector which grew by MYR 13.0 billion or 29.9% year-on-year to MYR 56.3 billion, adding that the wholesale also increased by 11.7% YoY or MYR 6.3. billion to MYR 59.6 billion.
“Motor vehicle sales also jumped 20.1% year-on-year, or MYR 2.3 billion, to reach MYR 13.9 billion.
“Generally, the overall increase of MYR 21.5 billion in wholesale and retail trade can be attributed to the lifting of the movement restriction, which allowed Hari Raya Aidilfitri to be happily celebrated,” he said. yesterday in a press release.
Dr. Mohd Uzir said growth in the retail sub-sector was supported by retail sales at non-specialty stores which increased by 36.3% or MYR 5.5 billion to MYR 20.7 billion .
“Similarly, other groups within this subsector also recorded positive growth, including retail sales at specialty stores (+30.8%), retail sales of automotive fuels (+54.6%) , retail sales of household goods (+23.7%). ) and retail sales of food, beverages and tobacco (+21.4 percent).
“Other groups also recorded positive growth, namely retail sales of cultural and recreational goods (+20.1%), retail sales of information and communication equipment (+8.0% ), retail sales excluding stores, stalls or markets (+27.0%). percent), and retail sales in stalls and markets (+24.0 percent),” he said.
Meanwhile, the expansion in wholesale trade was mainly due to the growth in wholesale trade of household goods which increased by 22.1% or MYR 2.2 billion to MYR 11.9 billion.
Groups that contributed to the growth include other specialized wholesale trade (+8.8%), wholesale trade of agricultural raw materials and live animals (+17.7%), wholesale trade of food, beverages and tobacco (+7.4%), wholesale of machinery, equipment and supplies (+10.1%), wholesale on a fee or contract basis (+12.0%) ) and non-specialized wholesale (+3.8 per cent). On a monthly basis (mom), the value of wholesale and retail trade sales in May 2022 increased by 1.4% compared to April 2022, thanks to the retail trade sub-sector which increased by 5, 1%.
Dr. Mohd Uzir said the Internet Retail Sales Index for May 2022 also recorded a year-on-year growth of 25.9% (April 2022: 24.9%).
In terms of volume index, the DoSM reported that wholesale and retail trade for May 2022 recorded year-on-year growth of 14.7%, driven by the retail and motor vehicle segments which increased by 24.2% and 21.5%, respectively.
Similarly, wholesale trade also registered a positive growth of 3.1 percent.
