Malaysia's wholesale, retail trade sales rise 15.9% to RM183.1bil in September

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's wholesale and retail trade sales rose 15.9% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM183.1bil in September 2026, driven by strong growth across all three sub-sectors.

The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said wholesale trade led the increase, with sales surging 25.3% to RM89bil, followed by motor vehicles, which rose 13.4% to RM20.5bil.

Retail trade sales increased 6.9% to RM73.7bil.

In a statement, DOSM said wholesale trade growth was mainly driven by other specialised wholesale activities, which jumped 56.7% to RM40.4bil, supported by higher sales of petrol, diesel, lubricants and liquefied petroleum gas.

The increase was partly influenced by movements in market prices, particularly for petroleum-related products.

Wholesale of household goods rose 7% to RM16.2bil, supported by demand for pharmaceutical and medical products, electrical and electronic goods, and clothing.

In addition, wholesale of machinery, equipment and supplies grew 11% to RM6.6bil, driven by sales of computers, electronic parts and telecommunications equipment.

In the retail segment, sales at non-specialised stores increased 7.9% to RM29.2bil, supported by supermarkets and mini markets.

Sales of other goods in specialised stores rose 6% to RM15.1bil, driven by demand for pharmaceutical and medical products, perfumes and cosmetics.

Retail sales of automotive fuel increased 10.6%, while information and communications equipment sales grew 6.8%.

For the motor vehicles segment, vehicle sales rose 17.3% to RM10.1bil, while sales, maintenance and repair of motorcycles and related parts and accessories increased 33%.

Separately, the online retail sales index grew 6.3% y-o-y in September, moderating from 6.7% in August.

In volume terms, the wholesale and retail trade index increased 5.5% y-o-y, led by motor vehicles at 12.1%, wholesale trade at 5.5% and retail trade at 4.2%.

On a month-on-month basis, the overall volume index rebounded 2.5%.