Overview

MALAYSIA’S LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY

Malaysia’s economy grew 5.0 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2024, reaching value added of RM430,686 million (Q3 2024: 5.4%; RM419,168 million). In the meantime, labour productivity per hour worked in Q4 2024 increased 1.4 per cent with value added per  hour  worked  at  RM44.2  per  hour  (Q3 2024: 2.6%;  RM43.3 per hour). This was contributed by the  3.5  per  cent  increase  in  the  total  hours  worked  to  register  9.7 billion hours (Q3 2024: 2.7%, 9.7 billion hours). Overall, the performance of labour productivity per hour worked for the year 2024 accelerated 2.1 per cent  (2023: 0.1%)  with  value  added  per  hour  worked  at  RM42.8 per hour (2023: RM41.9 per hour). Labour productivity per employment posted an increase of 2.2 per cent in Q4 2024 to record value added per employment at RM25,647 per person (Q3 2024: 2.4%; RM25,081 per person). Meanwhile, the total number of employment indicates a year-on-year growth of 2.7 per cent, 16.8 million persons (Q3 2024: 2.9%; 16.7 million persons) in the fourth quarter of 2024. Labour productivity per employment for the year of 2024 demonstrated a positive momentum at 2.4 per cent (2023: 0.7%) to record value added per employment at RM99,137 per person (2023: RM96,780 per person).

AGRICULTURE

In  Q4  2024,  the  Agriculture  sector’s  labour  productivity  per  hour  worked  declined  at  a  negative 1.8 per cent to record value added per hour worked at RM25.4 per hour (Q3 2024: 4.1%; RM28.2 per hour).  The  value  added  recorded  a  negative  0.5  per  cent  growth,  reaching  a  value  of  RM25,902 million  (Q3 2024: 3.9%;  RM29,134 million).  Simultaneously,  the  total  hours  worked  increased  1.3 per cent to register 1,022 million hours (Q3 2024: -0.2%; 1,033 million hours), while average hours worked rose 0.1 per cent to record 42.0 hours per week (Q3 2024: -1.3%; 41.7 hours per week). In 2024,  the  labour productivity  per  hour  worked  for  this  sector increased  2.3 per cent  with  value  added  per  hour  worked  at  RM25.3 per hour  (2023: -0.8%;  RM24.8 per hour).  The  labour  productivity  expressed  as  value  added  per  employment  for  this  sector  dropped  to  negative  1.7  per  cent  to  record  value  added  per employment at RM13,803 per person (Q3 2024: 3.0%; RM15,282 per person) during this quarter, while the total number of employment grew 1.2 per cent to post 1,877 thousand persons (Q3 2024: 1.0%; 1,907 thousand persons). In 2024, labour productivity per employment increased 2.2 per cent, reaching value added per employment of RM55,005 per person (2023: 0.05%; RM53,808 per person).

MINING & QUARRYING

Labour productivity per hour worked for the Mining and quarrying sector in the fourth quarter of 2024 posted a decrease of 2.7 per cent with value added per hour worked at RM551.3 per hour (Q3 2024: -5.7%; RM475.5 per hour). Meanwhile, total hours  worked  increased  1.8  per  cent  to  post  47  million  hours  (Q3 2024: 1.9%; 47 million hours) with average hours worked consistently growing at 1.3 per cent to record 48.2 hours per week  (Q3 2024: 1.6%;  47.9 hours per week).  In 2024,  the  performance  of  labour  productivity per hour  worked for this sector slumped at a negative 0.5 per cent (2023: -1.4%) with value added per hour worked at RM524.5 per hour (2023: RM527.2 per hour). Labour productivity measured by value added per employment for this sector posted a negative growth of 1.3 per cent to record value added per employment at RM341,780 per person (Q3 2024: -4.0%; RM291,136 per person). The  total  number  of  employment  also  increased  0.4  per  cent,  registered  a  total  of  77  thousand  persons  (Q3 2024: 0.1%;  76 thousand persons). In 2024, labour productivity per employment stood at 0.7 per cent to post value added per employment at RM1,287,625 per person (2023: 0.04%; RM1,278,404 per person).

MANUFACTURING

During this quarter, the Manufacturing sector recorded grew in labour productivity per hour worked at 2.4 per cent with value added per hour worked at RM58.2 per hour (Q3 2024: 3.4%; RM57.2 per hour) as value added increased 4.4 per cent, reaching RM99,420 million (Q3 2024: 5.6%; RM97,422 million). The total hours worked posted 2.0 per cent growth to register 1,707 million hours (Q3 2024: 2.1%; 1,704 million hours) with 0.5 per cent increase in  average  hours  worked  to  record  RM46.0 hours  per  week  (Q3 2024: 0.8%;  RM46.1 hours per week). In 2024, labour productivity per hour worked rebounded to 2.1 per cent from a negative 2.8 per cent recorded in the previous year with value added per hour worked at RM56.5 per hour (2023: RM55.3 per hour). The growth for the Manufacturing sector in Q4 2024 was due to expansion across all of its subsectors, including Electrical, electronic and optical products (6.6%),  Wood products, furniture, paper products and printing (5.1%), Beverages and tobacco products (4.3%), Vegetable and animal oils & fats and food processing (1.8%), Non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products (1.3%) and Petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic product (0.4%); except for Transport equipment, other manufacturing and repair (-2.6%) and Textiles, wearing apparel and leather products (-1.5%).

At the same time, labour productivity per employment for this sector saw a 3.0 per cent growth to record value added per employment at RM34,745 per person (Q3 2024: 4.1%; RM34,146 per person)  during  this  quarter,  with  total  employment  sustained  at  1.4  per  cent,  registered  2,861  thousand  persons  (Q3 2024: 1.4%; 2,853 thousand persons). Meanwhile, labour productivity per employment for this sector increased 2.6 per cent in 2024 to record value added per employment at RM134,498 per person (2023: -2.1%; RM131,112 per person). The performance in labour productivity per employment for the Manufacturing sector in the fourth quarter of 2024 was fuelled by the growth of Electrical, electronic and optical products (6.6%), Beverages and tobacco products (4.9%), Vegetable and animal oils & fats and food processing (4.3%), Wood products, furniture, paper products and printing (3.1%), Non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products (2.4%), Petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products (0.9%) and Textiles, wearing apparel and leather products (0.7%); except for Transport equipment, other manufacturing and repair (-3.2%).

CONSTRUCTION

In the fourth quarter of 2024, labour productivity per hour worked for the Construction sector further declined at 18.7 per cent to record value added per hour worked at RM20.5 per hour (Q3 2024: 20.0%; RM20.9 per hour), while the total hours worked increased to 1.7 per cent (Q3 2024: -0.1%; 838 million hours). Meanwhile, the average hours worked also posted  a  growth  of  0.9  per  cent  to  record  46.3  hours  per week (Q3 2024: -0.8%; RM45.9 hours per week). In addition, the growth of labour productivity per hour worked for 2024 soared to 17.6 per cent with value added per hour worked at RM19.9 per hour (2023: 4.4%; RM16.9 per hour). The labour productivity expressed as value added per employment for this sector increased 19.7 per cent to record value added per employment at RM12,274 per person (Q3 2024: 18.9%;  RM12,423 per person)  during  this  quarter,  while  the  total  number  of  employment  sustained  at  0.9 per cent,  registered  1,415 thousand  persons  (Q3 2024: 0.9%;  1,410 thousand  persons).  Throughout  2024,  labour  productivity  per  employment  for  this  sector  increased  16.5  per  cent  to  record value  added  per employment at RM47,225 per person (2023: 4.9%; RM40,552 per person).

SERVICES

In Q4 2024, the Services sector showed  an  increase  in  labour  productivity  per  hour  worked  at  0.9 per cent with value added per hour worked at RM41.9 per hour (Q3 2024: 1.4%; RM40.9 per hour) as value added grew at 5.5 per cent or equivalent to RM256,537 million (Q3 2024: 5.2%; RM247,610 million). In the meantime, the total hours worked also increased 4.6 per cent, reaching 6,122 million hours (Q3 2024: 3.8%; 6,050 million hours), with average hours worked rose 0.8 per cent to record 44.8 hours per week (Q3 2024: -0.2%; 44.7 hours per week). In 2024, labour productivity per hour worked grew 1.3 per cent with value added per hour worked at RM40.6 per hour (2023: 1.0%; RM40.1 per hour).  The  performance  in  labour  productivity  per hour worked for the Services sector in the fourth quarter of 2024 was propelled by the growth in Transportation and storage (7.6%), Real estate and business services (6.1%), Finance and insurance (3.2%), Other services (1.7%), and Information and communication (0.7%), whereas three (3) subsectors demonstrated negative growth, namely Utilities (-1.5%), Wholesale and retail trade (-0.5%) and Food & beverages and accommodation (-0.5%).

The   labour   productivity   per   employment   in   the   fourth  quarter  of  2024  for  this  sector   rose  1.8  per cent with value added per hour worked  at  RM24,286  per  hour  (Q3 2024: 1.3 %;  RM23,653 per hour) as the total number  of  employment  increased  3.7  per  cent  to  record  10,563  thousand  persons  (Q3 2024: 3.9%: 10,468 thousand persons). The growth in the labour productivity per employment for the Services sector in Q4 2024 was due to expansion in most of its subsectors, namely Real estate and business services (6.1%), Transportation and storage (5.7%), Finance and insurance (3.7%), Other services (2.9%), Food & beverages and accommodation (1.3%), Information and communication (1.2%) and Wholesale and retail trade (0.6%); except for Utilities (-4.1%).

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Baharudin Mohamad

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Email: baharudin[at]dosm.gov.my

Phone: 03 8885 7942

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