Malaysia's retail industry sees 13.8 pct growth in Q1

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's retail industry recorded a better-than-expected growth rate of 13.8 percent in retail sales in the first quarter of 2023, as compared to the same period in 2022, Retail Group Malaysia (RGM) said on Tuesday.

The RGM has also revised Malaysia's annual retail industry growth rate for 2023 upwards from 4 percent to 4.8 percent due to the retail result during the first quarter of this year.

In its report, the RGM said this latest quarterly result was 50 percent higher than the estimate made by members of Malaysia Retailers Association (MRA) and Malaysia Retail Chain Association (MRCA) at 9.2 percent in March.

According to the report, the strong growth rate was driven by the Chinese New Year celebration in January and the one-month school holiday in February and March - XINHUA