Malaysia 2Q24 GDP - 19 August 2024

Domestic demand pushes growth beyond expectations to 5.9%

GDP growth accelerated in 2Q24 to 5.9% YoY (1Q24: 4.2%), surpassing house forecasts and market expectations (KIBB: 5.1%; Bloomberg consensus: 5.8%) and slightly exceeding DOSM’s advance GDP estimates of 5.8%

• Growth was driven by strong household spending, a rebound in exports, and rising tourist arrivals. These factors also boosted the services and manufacturing sectors. Additionally, significant expansions in the construction and agriculture sectors supported the overall momentum.
• Meanwhile, seasonally adjusted QoQ growth expanded (2.9%; 1Q24: 1.5%) for the second straight quarter, mainly due to strong expansion in private final consumption expenditure (4.5%; 1Q24: 1.8%) and gross fixed capital formation (5.1%; 1Q24: 2.8%). This was also attributable to a broad-based expansion, led by the construction (8.7%; 1Q24: 7.9%), services (3.3%; 1Q24: 1.3%), manufacturing (3.1%; 1Q24: 2.4%) and agriculture (1.6%; 1Q24: - 0.7%) sectors. Bucking the trend, the mining sector contracted (-4.0%; 1Q24: -1.4%) for the second straight quarter.