KUALA LUMPUR: The country’s industrial production index (IPI) rose 5.5%, exceeding the forecasts by Reuters.
According to 13 economists surveyed in a Reuters poll, October's IPI was expected to rise 3.8%.
Statistics Department chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the expansion of IPI was attributed to an increment of 8% in the manufacturing index.
“Simultaneously, the electricity index rose 4.1%. Meanwhile, the mining index recorded a downturn of 3.5%.
“On a month-on-month basis, the IPI increased by 4.8% driven by manufacturing and electricity sectors,” he said in a statement.
The Statistics Department said the Manufacturing sector output based on year-on-year comparison increased by 8% in October 2021 after recording a positive growth of 4% in September 2021.
The main sub-sectors that contributed to the growth in the manufacturing sector in October 2021 were electrical & electronics products (13.6%), food, beverages & tobacco (9.3%), and petroleum, chemical, rubber & plastic products (6.3%).
Meanwhile, export-oriented and domestic-oriented industries recorded a growth of 8.6% and 6.6% respectively.
The increase in export-oriented industries was mainly supported by the manufacture of computers, electronics & optical products and manufacture of coke & refined petroleum products.
The growth for the domestic-oriented industry was attributed by the manufacture of food products and the manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery & equipment.
The mining sector output shrank 3.5% in October 2021 as compared to the same period of the previous year.
The deterioration was contributed by the fall of 10.2% in crude oil and condensate index.
The IPI in the period of January to October 2021 recorded an expansion of 7.3% as compared to the same period of the previous year.
The increment was boosted by the rise in all components; manufacturing index (9.4%), mining index (1.8%) and electricity index (1.9%).