PERFORMANCE OF WHOLESALE & RETAIL TRADE SECTOR
Sales value of Wholesale & Retail Trade recorded RM111.4 billion in August 2020 with a growth of -2.3 per cent year-on-year. This was the highest sales value since the implementation of Movement Control Order due to Covid-19. Motor Vehicles grew positively for two consecutive months to record 1.0 per cent or an increase of RM0.1 billion. On the other hand, Wholesale Trade and Retail Trade continued to register a negative growth of -3.9 per cent (-RM2.1 billion) and -1.5 per cent (-RM0.7 billion) respectively.

In August 2020, volume index of Wholesale & Retail Trade depicted a sign of recovery to register 130.0 points with a growth of -2.4 per cent year-on-year. This was the smallest negative growth since March 2020. Motor Vehicles recorded a positive growth of 0.9 per cent. Contrarily, Wholesale Trade registered -3.4 per cent. Retail Trade also went down 2.3 per cent within the same period. As for seasonally adjusted volume index, it increased 2.4 per cent month-on-month.
WHOLESALE TRADE
Wholesale Trade generated sales value of RM51.9 billion in August 2020, a decrease of RM2.1 billion (-3.9%) as against August 2019. Other Specialised Wholesale and Wholesale on a Fee or Contract Basis recorded a fall of 13.5 per cent and 6.2 per cent respectively as compared to the previous year. For monthly comparison, sales of this sub-sector increased 3.7 per cent.
Volume index of Wholesale Trade registered 127.4 points, contracted 3.4 per cent year-on-year. The negative growth was recorded in Other Specialised Wholesale (-12.8%) and Wholesale on a Fee or Contract Basis (-5.5%). As for seasonally adjusted volume index, it went up 1.1 per cent month-on-month.
RETAIL TRADE
Sales of Retail Trade registered a negative growth of 1.5 per cent as compared to August 2019. Among groups that contributed to this fall were Retail Sale of Cultural & Recreation Goods in Specialised Stores (-9.7%), Retail Sale of Other Goods in Specialised Stores (-7.2%), and Retail Sale of Automotive Fuel in Specialised Stores (-5.6%). Compared with July 2020, sales of this sub-sector rose 2.3 per cent.
Volume Index of Retail Trade recorded -2.3 per cent growth to 139.2 points as compared to August 2019. The largest decline was depicted in Retail Sale of Cultural & Recreation Goods in Specialised Stores (-10.6%), Retail Sale of Other Goods in Specialised Stores (-7.6%) and Retail Sale of Other Household Equipment in Specialised Stores (-5.2%). As for seasonally adjusted volume index, it expanded 3.4 per cent as against July 2020.
MOTOR VEHICLES
Sales value of Motor Vehicles sub-sector registered year-on-year growth of 1.0 per cent. This increase was driven by Sale of Motor Vehicles which registered a growth of 3.1 per cent and Sale, Maintenance & Repair of Motorcycles 2.4 per cent. For monthly comparison, sales of this sub-sector edged down 0.7 per cent.
The volume index of Motor Vehicles grew 0.9 per cent year-on-year to reach 112.3 points. The highest increment was contributed by Sale of Motor Vehicles (4.5%) and Sale, Maintenance & Repair of Motorcycles (2.0%). Seasonally adjusted volume index for this sub-sector slipped 1.1 per cent month-on-month.




















