KUALA LUMPUR: The value of Malaysia’s wholesale and retail trade sales rose 5.4 percent to RM109.3 billion in March 2019 compared with the same period last year, says the Department of Statistics Malaysia.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the increase was due to retail trade, which expanded 6.9 percent.
“For wholesale trade, the sales value recorded an annual growth of 5.0 percent while motor vehicles expanded 1.8 percent,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Mohd Uzir said the sales performance of wholesale and retail trade in the month under review also rose 5.7 percent versus February 2019.
He said all sub-sectors experienced positive growth, especially motor vehicles which rebounded to 16.0 percent growth after a contraction of 11.7 percent a month ago.
“The surge was driven by double-digit growth in motor vehicle sales of 22.7 percent, and sales, maintenance and repair of motorcycles of 14.6 percent,” he said.
In terms of volume index, Mohd Uzir said the wholesale and retail trade recorded a 5.1 percent growth compared with the previous corresponding month.
“The gain was propelled by retail trade with a 7.4 percent growth.
“This was followed by wholesale trade and motor vehicles which grew 3.4 percent,” he said. –Bernama
