Economic Growth

For the first quarter of 2010, Malaysia’s economy expanded robustly by recording a double-digit growth of 10.1 per cent. This growth was the largest expansion in this decade after achieving the last double-digit growth in the first quarter of 2000 (11.7 per cent). The acceleration of the economy was spearheaded by the buoyant performance of Manufacturing and Services sector. On the demand side, the growth was led by the Private Final Consumption, Gross Fixed Capital Formation and Exports.

Agriculture

The Agriculture sector continued to strengthen by recording a growth of 6.8 per cent. The faster expansion was mainly attributed by the strong growth of Forestry sub-sector and Rubber sub-sector. Forestry sub-sector leapt to 12.9 per cent due to the higher external demand especially from India, China and Taiwan. Meanwhile, the growth of Rubber sub-sector has reached a new high of 34.7 per cent, supported by the strong demand from the domestic and external markets.
The replanting activity of oil palm has moderated the production in this quarter; hence this sub-sector posted a smaller positive growth of 1.4 per cent. Livestock sub-sector improved to 10.0 per cent, mainly supported by the increase in the production of poultry and cattle. The Other Agriculture sub-sector and Fishing sub-sector slowed down to 5.4 per cent and 3.0 per cent respectively.

Mining and Quarrying

The Mining and Quarrying sector has rebounded to 2.1 per cent from a negative 2.8 per cent in the preceding quarter. The positive growth was a reflective of the significant increase in the natural gas production (8.8 per cent). Nevertheless, the production of crude oil and condensate remained weak by registering a negative growth of 0.9 per cent and 9.4 per cent respectively.

Manufacturing

In accordance with the global economic recovery, the Manufacturing sector surged to a double-digit growth of 16.9 per cent during the quarter. The last double-digit growth recorded by this sector was in the third quarter of 2004 (10.3 per cent). The exceptional performance was attributable to the strong growth in the sub-sectors of Electric & Electronic (34.4 per cent), Transport Equipment & Other Manufactures (25.3 per cent) and Non-metallic Mineral Products, Basic Metal & Fabricated Metal Products (17.2 per cent). The boost in the Electric & Electronic sub-sector was spurred by the strong global demand while the surge in the domestic demand has supported the double-digit growth in Transport Equipment & Other Manufactures sub-sector.

Construction

The growth momentum of the Construction sector continued in this quarter by registering 8.7 per cent. The Civil Engineering and Non-Residential sub-sectors contributed significantly to the strong growth.

Services

The Services sector expanded further to 8.5 per cent in this quarter as compared to the first quarter of 2009. The favourable performance was contributed by the sturdy trade related activities and domestic consumption. The Wholesale & Retail Trade sub-sector continued to be the main impetus in the Services sector with a significant growth of 9.6 per cent. The Finance & Insurance sub-sector recorded a 6.4 per cent growth, benefitting from the increase in the total loans, deposits and insurance premium.

Meanwhile, the Transport & Storage sub-sector strengthened to 9.2 per cent on account of the improvement in manufacturing and trade activities. The Communication sub-sector remained encouraging at 6.8 per cent, propelled by the higher demand for broadband and 3G services. The Real Estate & Business Services sub-sector surged to 14.2 per cent led by the active trading in stock market.

Final Consumption Expenditure

Final Consumption Expenditure strengthened further by 5.4 per cent in the first quarter as compared to 1.4 per cent in the previous quarter. The growth was driven by the Private Final Consumption Expenditure which registered a 5.1 per cent growth. The festive promotion in conjunction with Chinese New Year celebration has supported the higher consumption especially for transport, housing & utilities, furnishing & household equipment and restaurant.

Gross Fixed Capital Formation

Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) rose by 5.4 per cent during the quarter. The steady performance activity in the construction sector has translated to the rise in the GFCF coupled with the higher imports of Machinery & Equipment.

Exports and Imports

An encouraging growth was recorded by Exports in this quarter by registering a double-digit growth of 19.3 per cent. The growth was underpinned largely by stronger demand for the products of Electric & Electronics, Petroleum and Chemical.

Meanwhile, Imports experienced a rapid growth of 27.5 per cent as compared with 7.0 per cent in the last quarter due to the higher demand for Intermediate, Capital and Consumption Goods.

Source: Department of Statistics Malaysia
http://www.statistics.gov.my/portal/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=446:national-product-and-expenditure-accounts-first-quarter-2010-updated-13052010&catid=38:quarterly-gross-domestic-products&Itemid=61&lang=en