Malaysia’s labour productivity grew 2.1% in 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia recorded a labour productivity growth of 2.1% to RM93,973 in 2019 from RM92,018 in 2018, contributing to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) gowth of 4.3 % in 2019, says Malaysia Productivity Corp (MPC).

In terms of labour productivity by value-added per hour, the MPC in its National Productivity Report 2020 said growth was 2.2% in 2019 compared with 3.4% in 2018.

The five main sectors generally improved labour productivity through 2019, with the construction sector’s labour productivity by value per employment growing 3.3% to RM45,293, followed by the services sector (2.9% to RM89,513) and the manufacturing sector (1.7 % to RM123,896).

Agriculture’s labour productivity by value-added per employment posted growth of 0.4% to RM54,212, while the mining and quarrying sector recorded a slight decline at 1.6% to Rm1.34mil.

In the first quarter of 2020 (1Q20), Malaysia posted GDP growth of 0.7%, and a further decline can be expected in the second quarter of 2020 due to the unintended economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

MPC said Malaysia’s labour force increased by 2% to 15.6 million persons in 2019 from 15.3 million in 2018, while the unemployment rate remained steady at 3.3%.

In 1Q20, the unemployment rate increased to 3.5 % reflecting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as the government enforced the movement control order (MCO) and shutdown of businesses to contain the outbreak. Internationally, Malaysia recorded a productivity level of US$68,473, ahead of Asian countries including Thailand (US$35,556), Indonesia (US$28,694), China (US$35,604) and Vietnam (US$13,768).

However, amongst developed countries, Singapore continues to hold the highest labour productivity per person employed at US$153,124 with the United States coming in second at US$131,783. —