Malaysia’s manufacturing output quickens as electronics lead August gains
Malaysia’s August manufacturing output rose 7.4% year on year, with export-oriented industries up 9.1% and factory capacity use at 84.1%.
Malaysia’s manufacturing output grew 7.4 per cent year on year in August 2026, up from 6.4 per cent in July, with electrical and electronics products up 17.0 per cent from a year earlier. The Department of Statistics Malaysia said on 9 October that the country’s overall Industrial Production Index rose 5.0 per cent year on year. Electricity output rose 9.0 per cent year on year, while mining contracted 7.4 per cent, leaving overall industrial growth below the manufacturing rate.
Export-oriented factories pick up pace
Output from export-oriented industries grew 9.1 per cent from a year earlier, compared with 6.7 per cent in July. Within that group, the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products rose 18.8 per cent year on year. Machinery and equipment manufacturing not elsewhere classified rose 13.8 per cent, giving the export-oriented gain another named contributor beyond electronics. The stronger export-oriented reading gives Malaysian suppliers and capacity planners evidence of faster production in an important industrial segment.
Across manufacturing, electrical and electronics products grew 17.0 per cent year on year. Domestic-oriented manufacturing grew 3.9 per cent year on year, below the export-oriented industries' 9.1 per cent gain. Within the domestic group, basic metals manufacturing rose 9.9 per cent and food processing products 6.5 per cent.
Monthly rebound and factory utilisation
The overall industrial index rose 2.6 per cent from July to August, after falling 2.0 per cent month on month in July. Manufacturing output was up 3.4 per cent month on month in August.
DOSM also reported manufacturing capacity utilisation of 84.1 per cent in August, against 83.2 per cent in July. For January through August, the overall industrial index was 5.6 per cent higher than a year earlier, compared with 2.6 per cent growth over the same eight months of 2025. The August readings give factory operators a current measure of both output growth and capacity use.
Source: Department of Statistics Malaysia’s August 2026 industrial-production release (released 9 October 2026).
