How labour productivity in Malaysia fared by sector in Q1 2024

The total number of employees recorded continued to grow slowly at a rate of 2.1%, totalling 16,401,000 persons, compared to the 2.5% growth recorded in Q4 2023 (16,347,000 persons).

Malaysia’s labour productivity – also known as value added per hour worked –grew 1.9% (or RM42.0) per hour in the first quarter of 2024. For a clearer comparison, the fourth quarter of 2023 recorded 0.6%; RM43.6 per hour.

During the same period, value added increased 4.2% to reach RM397bn, compared to 2.9% (Q4 2023: RM410bn). The marginal growth in value added resulted in a 2.2% increase in total hours worked, a slight drop from the 2.3% growth observed in Q4 2023.

Meanwhile, average hours worked also noted a positive growth of 0.1% from -0.2% in the previous quarter. Labour productivity per employment also showed an improvement after registering 2% to RM24,230 per person (Q4 2023: 0.4%; RM25,101 per person).

Lastly, the total number of employees recorded continued to grow slowly at a rate of 2.1%, totalling 16,401,000 persons, compared to the 2.5% growth recorded in Q4 2023 (16,347,000 persons).

Agriculture

Labour productivity per hour worked in the agriculture sector increased by 0.9% compared to 1% in the first quarter of 2023. The increase in labour productivity per hour worked during this quarter coincided with a rise in value added, which surged to 1.6%, to reach RM23.6bn. For comparison, Q4 2023 recorded 1.9%; RM26.0bn.

At the same time, the total number of hours worked grew at a slower rate of 0.7% to 1,012mn hours (Q4 2023: 0.9%; 1,009 million hours), while the average hours worked increased by 0.5%, reaching 41.6 hours per week (Q4 2023: 0.1%; 41.9 hours per week).

• Labour productivity in terms of value added per employment increased by 1.5% (Q4 2023: 1.1%).
• Total employment also experienced growth at 0.1% to 1,875,000 persons (Q4 2023: 0.8%; 1,854,000 persons).
• The recorded value added per hour worked stood at RM23.3 per hour (Q4 2023: RM25.8 per hour).
• The value added per employment amounted to RM12,589 per person (Q4 2023: RM14,043 per person).

Mining and quarrying

Labour productivity per hour worked in the mining & quarrying sector experienced growth at 2.7% in Q1 of 2024 — up from 1.5% in the previous quarter.

The sector also recorded a 5.7% increase in its value added, totalling RM26.2bn.

In terms of total hours worked, there was a growth of 3% to record 47.1mn hours (Q4 2023: 2.0%; 47.0mn hours). Similarly, the growth rate for average hours worked increased to 1.5% (47.5 hours per week) compared to 0.7% (47.6 hours per week) in Q4 of 2023.

• Labour productivity per employment expanded by 5.7% (Q4 2023: 3.2%).
• Total employment maintained a positive growth rate of 0.1%, reaching 76,200 persons (Q4 2023: 0.2%; 76,300 persons).
• Value added per hour worked was recorded as RM555.7 per hour (Q4 02023: RM566.5 per hour).
• Value added per employment stood at RM343,404 per person (Q4 2023: RM346,305 per person).

Manufacturing

As the value added in the manufacturing sector increased to 1.9% in the recent quarter to amount RM91,727mn (Q4 2023: -0.3%; RM95,261mn), the labour productivity per hour worked in this sector experienced a smaller negative growth at 0.3% and RM54.8 per hour.

Meanwhile, hours worked stood at 1,674mn, following a 2.3% growth quarter-on-quarter.

Average hours worked also displayed positive growth at 0.7% with 45.9 hours per week recorded in this quarter (Q4 2023: -0.4%; 45.8 hours per week).

Breaking it down further, there were four subsectors experienced positive growth in labour productivity per hour worked. These include:

• Non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products at 6.1% (Q4 2023: 2.7%);
• Textiles, wearing apparel and leather products at 3.1% (Q4 2023: 1.5%);
• Transport equipment, other manufacturing and repair at 2.8% (Q4 2023: 1.2%); and
• Wood products, furniture, paper products and printing following a growth of 2.3% (Q4 2023: 0.1%).

Reflecting the sector growth, labour productivity per employment showed a similar performance after 0.2% with RM32,532 per person registered. For comparison, Q4 2023 recorded -3.2% and RM33,745 per person. In the meantime, the total number of employees recorded a slower growth at 1.7% and 2,820,000 persons (Q4 2023: 3.0%; 2,823,000 persons).

On the other hand, more than half of the manufacturing subsectors displayed positive growth for labour productivity per employment, including:

• Non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products at 5.1% growth (Q4 2023: 2.8%);
• Beverages and tobacco products at 4.7% (Q4 2023: 2.1%);
• Transport equipment, other manufacturing and repair at 2.3% (Q4 2023: 1.9%);
• Wood products, furniture, paper products and printing at 0.9% (Q4 2023: -1.9%); and
• Electrical, electronic and optical products at 0.8% (Q4 2023: -7.3%).

Construction

The labour productivity per hour worked in the construction sector soared to double-digit positive growth at 12.5% having registered RM18.7 per hour. For a full comparison, Q4 2023 recorded 2.6% and RM17.2 per hour. This increase was largely attributed to the growth in value added during this quarter at 11.9%, amounted to RM15,551mn (Q4 2023: 3.6%; RM14,386mn).

However, the total hours worked shifted to -0.5% after posting 830mn hours as compared to 0.9% in Q4 2023 (835mnhours), with average hours worked further declining to -1.7% and 45.6 hours per week.

Improvement was still noted in labour productivity per employment, having registered 10.7% during this quarter with RM11,057 per person (Q4 2023: 2.4%; RM10,254 per person.

Lastly, the total employment grew marginal at 1.1% and 1,406, 000 persons (Q4 2023: 1.2% and 1,403,000 persons).

Services

Last but not least, the services sector also grew to 1.8% in terms of its labour productivity per hour worked during the first quarter of 2024 with RM40.0 per hour (Q4 2023: 1.4%; RM41.5 per hour).

A 4.7% marginal growth was recorded for the value added, reaching to RM235,777mn from 4.1% and RM243,162mn in Q4 2023. Reflecting a similar growth, the total hours worked also improved to 2.9% and 5,889mn hours (Q4 2023: 2.6%; 5,854mn hours), while average hours worked displayed 0.2% positive growth after registering 44.6 hours per week (Q4 2023: -0.2%; 44.5 hours per week).

Majority of services subsectors in labour productivity per hour worked also increased from the previous quarter, with the exception of Information and communication, and Finance and insurance which recorded -1.8% (Q4 2023: 3.2%) and -9% (Q4 2023: -13.5%), respectively.

• Labour productivity per employment refined to 1.9% growth to post RM23,062 per person (Q4 2023: 1.1%; RM23,863 per person).
• Total of employment increased marginally at 2.8% and 10,224,000 persons (Q4 2023: 2.9% and 10,190,000 persons).
• All subsectors in labour productivity per employment showed good performances as majority subsectors experienced positive growth, except for food & beverages and accommodation which showed a slower negative of 0.4% (compared to -3.6%) and finance & insurance at-1.3% (Q4 2023: -6.6%).

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Lead image / Department of Statistics Malaysia