Advance GDP estimates in Malaysia expand by 5.8% in Q2 2024

Economic growth was spurred by improvements in all sectors during the quarter, particularly the services, manufacturing, and agriculture sectors.

Malaysia’s advance GDP estimates expanded by 5.8% in the second quarter of 2024, from 4.2% the preceding quarter. Quarter-on-quarter, the economy also increased 0.7%, from a decline of 3.1% growth in Q1 2024.

The economy's growth was spurred by improvements in all sectors during the quarter, particularly the services, manufacturing, and agriculture sectors, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia.

The advance statistics' breakdown of the sectors are as follows:

The services sector expanded 5.6% from 4.7% in the first quarter of 2024 — underpinned by positive growth in all sub-sectors, though largely attributed to wholesale & retail trade, transportation & storage, and finance & insurance.

Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector grew by 4.7% in this quarter, from 1.9% recorded in Q1. The expansion was supported by non-metallic mineral products, basic metal & fabricated metal products; petroleum, chemical, rubber & plastic products; and transport equipment, and other manufacturing & repair.

Over in agriculture, the sector grew by 7.1% in the Q2 2024, as compared to 1.6% growth in the previous quarter. The performance was largely accredited to the growth of the oil palm and livestock sub-sectors. Despite this, the rubber and forestry & logging sub-sectors displayed negative growth in this quarter.

The mining and quarrying sector increased to 3.3% from 5.7% in the first quarter of 2024, contributed by the increased production in the natural gas sub-sector.

Lastly, the construction sector registered the strongest growth of 17.2% in the second quarter of 2024, from 11.9% the preceding quarter. This could be attributed to positive growth in all sub-sectors, particularly in civil engineering and specialised construction activities.

Overall, Malaysia’s economy for the first half of 2024 registered an improvement of 5% as compared to 4.1% in the same period in 2023.

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