MALAYSIA’S WHOLESALE, RETAIL TRADE SALES UP 6.4 PCT Y-O-Y TO RM158.9 BLN IN NOVEMBER

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 (Bernama) -- Malaysia’s wholesale and retail trade registered total sales of RM158.9 billion in November 2025, marking a year-on-year (y-o-y) growth of 6.4 per cent.

In a statement today, chief statistician, Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said that the growth in the wholesale and retail trade sector was underpinned by positive performance across all sub-sectors.

In terms of volume index, he said that wholesale and retail trade recorded a y-o-y increase of 5.2 per cent.

“This growth was mainly driven by the motor vehicles sub-sector, which rose by 6.8 per cent, followed by wholesale trade (+6.0 per cent) and retail trade (+4.3 per cent). However, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the volume index declined by 2.0 per cent month-on-month,’ he said.

Mohd Uzir said that the wholesale trade sub-sector recorded sales of RM70.1 billion, reflecting a y-o-y growth of 6.0 per cent.

“Meanwhile, the retail trade sub-sector achieved RM69.0 billion in sales, increasing by 6.4 per cent y-o-y.

“The motor vehicles sub-sector also demonstrated strong performance, registering RM19.8 billion in sales, up 8.0 per cent y-o-y,” he said.

He said that the growth was also partly attributable to the continued utilisation of the Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) RM100 one-off assistance.

Meanwhile, Mohd Uzir said that online retail sales remained on an upward trajectory in November, as the sales index increased by 7.3 per cent y-o-y.

“This trend continues to reflect sustained consumer demand within the e-commerce segment,” he said.

He said that digital payment activities continued to gain momentum in November, with e-money transactions recording a y-o-y increase of 66.9 per cent to RM27.0 billion, underscoring the growing preference for cashless payment methods.

“The real-time retail payments platform (RPP) also maintained strong performance, with total transactions reaching RM322.6 billion.

“In addition, financial process exchange (FPX) transactions rose by 20.4 per cent to RM41.5 billion, while credit card and debit card transactions registered a growth of 6.9 per cent and 6.8 per cent, respectively,” he added.

-- BERNAMA