Wholesale, retail sales expand 5.7% to RM112.5b in July 2019

PUTRAJAYA: Sales of wholesale & retail trade grew 5.7% in July 2019 as compared to the same month of the previous year.

Chief statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the increase was attributed by the retail trade which expanded 7.1% driven by retail sale of food, beverages & tobacco of 10.5%.

This was followed by retail sale of other goods in specialised stores and retail sale in non-specialised stores which registered 8.2% and 8.1% respectively.

For wholesale trade, sales expanded 6.6%. On the other hand, motor vehicles registered a negative growth of 1.7% against a year ago.

Compared to the preceding month, sales of wholesale & retail trade rose marginally by 0.2%.

“Motor vehicles sub-sector grew 7.3% after a contraction of 5.4% in June 2019, followed by retail trade with 1.1%.”

Within the same period, wholesale trade contracted 2.3% in this month.

In terms of volume index, wholesale & retail trade increased 6.3% against the corresponding month of the previous year. The gain was propelled by retail trade which registered an annual growth of 8.4%. Wholesale trade rose 5.8% while motor vehicles increased 0.3% in this month.