Malaysian Industrial Output Falls Unexpectedly In December

(RTTNews) - Malaysia's industrial production decreased unexpectedly at the end of the final quarter, though marginally, figures from the Department of Statistics showed on Wednesday.

Industrial production dropped 0.1 percent year-on-year in December, reversing a 0.6 percent rise in the previous month. Meanwhile, economists had forecast a 0.7 percent increase.

The downward trend in December was due to a 1.4 percent contraction in manufacturing output.

Data showed that production in the mining sector grew at an accelerated pace of 3.6 percent, and electricity output was 4.6 percent higher compared to last year.

On a monthly basis, industrial production decreased 1.3 percent in October, after a 0.9 percent fall in the preceding month.

During the whole year 2023, overall industrial production logged a marginal growth of 0.9 percent compared with a 6.7 percent expansion in 2022.