Wholesale & Retail Trade March 2023

Malaysia’s Wholesale & Retail Trade recorded double digit growth of 11.9 per cent in March 2023 to stand at RM138.5 billion

• Malaysia’s Wholesale & Retail recorded monthly sales value of RM138.5 billion, grew 11.9 per cent year-on-year in March 2023. The increase of 11.9 per cent for Wholesale & Retail Trade in March 2023 was attributed to Retail Trade sub-sector, which increased 17.7 per cent or RM8.8 billion to register RM58.7 billion. Wholesale Trade also expanded by registering 7.6 per cent or RM4.4 billion to RM61.6 billion. Within the same period, Motor Vehicles rose 9.3 per cent or RM1.5 billion to RM18.2 billion. For month-on-month comparison, sales value of Wholesale & Retail Trade grew 3.5 per cent, supported by Wholesale Trade with 4.1 per cent, Motor Vehicles 10.6 per cent, and Retail Trade 0.9 per cent.

• For the performance across sub-sectors, Retail Trade sub-sector growth of 17.7 per cent in March 2023 was supported by Retail Sales in Non-specialised Stores which elevated 19.8 per cent or RM3.7 billion to RM22.4 billion. Other groups in this sub-sector also recorded positive growth namely Retail Sales in Specialised Stores 21.9 per cent, Retail Sales of Automotive Fuels 38.1 per cent, and Retail Sales of Food, Beverages & Tobacco 17.9 per cent.

• The increase of 7.6 per cent growth in Wholesale Trade sub-sector was attributed to Wholesale of Household Goods which rose RM1.8 billion or 16.4 per cent to RM13.0 billion. This was followed by Wholesale of Food, Beverages & Tobacco 12.9 per cent, and Wholesale of Agricultural Raw Materials & Live Animals 7.2 per cent.

• The 9.3 per cent growth in Motor Vehicles sub-sector this month was attributed to Sales of Motor Vehicles Parts & Accessories which surged 20.2 per cent or RM0.7 billion to RM4.4 billion. This was followed by Maintenance & Repair of Motor Vehicles 20.9 per cent and Sales of Motor Vehicles 3.8 per cent.

• In terms of volume index, Wholesale & Retail Trade for March 2023 registered a year-on-year growth of 9.4 per cent. The expansion was attributed to Retail Trade with a double-digit growth of 13.8 per cent. Wholesale Trade and Motor Vehicles also recorded positive growth of 6.7 per cent and 5.6 per cent, respectively. For seasonally adjusted volume index, it went down -0.9 per cent month-on-month.

Released by: Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM)