KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia missed its 4-5 per cent growth target for gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023, according to advance GDP estimates by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
DOSM said Malaysia's economy moderated to 3.8 per cent in 2023, after advance estimates of GDP project that the economy grew by 3.4 per cent for the fourth quarter of 2023.
In its advance estimate for the third quarter GDP growth, DOSM was right on the money projecting a 3.3 per cent growth in GDP.
DOSM said the services sector, which grew 4.7 per cent, spearheaded the economic performance in fourth quarter, with all other sectors experiencing positive growth.
The manufacturing sector grew marginally by 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter after a negative growth of 0.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2023.
The sector's growth was supported by vegetable and animal oils and fats and food processing, followed by and non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products, it added.
Electrical, electronic and optical products and Petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products showed decreases in the fourth quarter.
According to DOSM's estimates, the services sector registered a growth of 5.4 per cent for the full year of 2023, followed by the construction (5.8 per cent) and manufacturing (0.8 per cent) sectors.
Additionally, the mining and quarrying sector grew at 1.0 per cent and agriculture sector grew marginally for two consecutive years (2023: at 0.5 per cent).
DOSM said the modest economic performance for the year 2023 was influenced by a decline in exports of goods, experiencing a decrease of 8.0 percent in 2023 driven by weak global demand and low commodity prices.
This is also in line with the slow performance of the manufacturing sector, which grew marginally by 0.8 per cent as compared with the 8.1 per cent recorded in 2022.
DOSM will release fourth quarter and full year 2023 GDP figures on Feb 16, 2024.