THE services sector’s revenue rose 1.5% year-on-year (yoy) to RM437.8 bil in the first quarter of 2020 (1Q20), said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the growth was driven by wholesale and retail trade, food and beverages, as well as the accommodation segment, which increased 1.5% yoy to RM347.3 bil.
The growth was also contributed by the information, communication, transportation and storage segment, which rose 1.4% yoy to RM63.9 bil, and the professional and real estate agent segment which climbed 5% yoy to RM9.8 bil.
“However, the health, education and arts, entertainment and recreation segment fell 0.6% yoy to RM16.8 bil,” he said in a statement today.
Meanwhile, on a quarter-on-quarter (qoq) basis, Mohd Uzir said total revenue for the services sector decreased by 4.7%, or RM21.4 bil to RM437.8 bil in 1Q20 from 4Q19.
He said the services sector’s performance in 1Q20 indicated the lowest growth since 1Q13.
“The enforcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO) due to the Covid-19 outbreak is expected to have a more significant impact in the coming quarter,” he said.
According to Mohd Uzir, the number of persons engaged in the sector in 1Q20 was 3.7 million, up 1% from 1Q19.
The growth was driven by the wholesale and retail trade, food and beverages, as well as accommodation segment which saw an increase of 30,673 persons or 1.1%, he said.
However, he noted that the number of persons engaged slid 1.6% qoq to 3.75 million.
Mohd Uzir said in 1Q20, salaries and wages paid was RM25.0 bil, an increase of 1.4% from 1Q19, but a decrease of 3.4% when compared with 4Q19. — May 12, 2020, Bernama
