MALAYSIA recorded wholesale and retail trade sales of RM110.5 bil in October 2020, down by 0.8% year-on-year (yoy), according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
In a statement today, chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said this negative growth was due to a 1.5% (RM700 mil) contraction in retail trade to RM44.2 bil and a 0.9% (RM500 mil) decrease in wholesale trade to RM53.4 bil.
On the other hand, the motor vehicles sub-sector continued to record a positive sales growth of RM300 mil or 2.2% yoy to RM12.9 bil.
However, the sub-sector’s month-on-month (mom) sales value slipped 0.5% in October 2020 compared to September partly due to resurgence of COVID-19 cases which led to the enhanced movement control order (EMCO) being reimposed in certain targeted areas and the implementation of the conditional movement control orders (CMCO) in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.
Mohd Uzir said the negative growth of 1.5% for the retail trade was due to declining sales of non-essential products, namely sales in specialised stores (-7.4%) as well as sales of household goods (-4.0%), cultural & recreation goods (-4.6%), and information and communication equipment (-1.9%).
“However, sales of essential goods depicted a positive yoy growth, with sales in non-specialised stores registering 4.4% growth to RM15.9 bil. This was followed by retail sale of food, beverages and tobacco which rose 6.1% to RM2.7 bil.
“Retail trade not in stores, stalls or markets also expanded 8.3% to RM400 mil, followed by retail sale via stalls and markets which increased 7.0% to RM100 mil,” he said.
On another note, Mohd Uzir said for wholesale trade, the fall of 0.9% yoy in October was mainly due to other specialised wholesale and wholesale on a fee or contract basis which declined 6.1% and 3.6%, respectively.
“However, wholesale of food, beverages and tobacco grew 3.8% to settle at RM10.1 bil, followed by household goods which increased 3.1% to RM11.0 bil. Similarly, wholesale of machinery, equipment and supplies also expanded 1.7% yoy to generate sales of RM4.6 bil,” he explained.
On the motor vehicles sub-sector, he said sales of motor vehicles spearheaded the growth with 6.4% yoy to RM7.2 bil, followed by sale, maintenance and repair of motorcycles which rose 4.7% to RM1.1 bil.
However, maintenance and repair of motor vehicles shrank 4.3% compared to the corresponding month of 2019 to record RM1.5 bil worth of sales, with sale of motor vehicles parts and accessories also decreasing 4.5% to RM3.1 bil, he noted.
For the mom negative growth of 0.5%, it was dragged down by retail trade with -1.4% or a decrease of RM600 mil, he said, adding similarly, motor vehicle sales decreased RM800 mil or -5.8% within the same period.
In contrast, he said, wholesale trade increased 1.7% or an additional of RM900 mil mom.
Mohd Uzir said online retail sales index, which shows e-commerce activity, surged to record 26.3% growth yoy.
For seasonally adjusted retail sales index, it went down 5.4% against the previous month, he added.
“In terms of volume index, wholesale and retail trade registered a negative growth of -1.4% yoy. The fall was due to retail trade which decreased 2.8% followed by wholesale trade which contracted 0.8%.
“In contrast, motor vehicles recorded a positive growth of 1.7%. As for seasonal adjusted volume index, it inched down 1.4% mom,” he added. – Dec 10, 2020
