Industrial production in Malaysia increased by 1.7 percent year-on-year in February of 2019, slowing markedly from a 3.2 percent gain in January and matching market expectations. It marked the weakest growth in industrial output since June last year, as manufacturing production growth slowed (3.7 percent vs 4.2 percent in January), in particular textile, wearing apparel, leather & footwear (3.6 percent vs 5.4 percent in January); petroleum, chemical, rubber & plastics (1.6 percent vs 4 percent); and electrical and electronic products (3.1 percent vs 3.9 percent). Also, electricity output rose at a slower rate (4.9 percent vs 7.8 percent). In addition, mining output slumped 5.0 percent, after a 0.9 percent fall in a month earlier, largely due to natural gas (-5.6 percent vs 0.3 percent) and crude oil (-4.3 percent vs -2.2 percent). On a monthly basis industrial production dropped 2.0 percent in February, after a 1.2 percent increase in January. Industrial Production in Malaysia averaged 2.41 percent from 2007 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 12.80 percent in March of 2010 and a record low of -17.60 percent in January of 2009.
Industrial Production in Malaysia is expected to be 3.80 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Industrial Production in Malaysia to stand at 3.50 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Malaysia Industrial Production is projected to trend around 4.80 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.