Perak's Economy Showed Strong Performance With 2.7 Pct Growth In 2023 - DOSM

IPOH, Aug 3 (Bernama) -- Perak exhibited a resilient economic performance with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 2.7 per cent or RM82.6 billion in 2023 compared to RM80.4 billion the previous year.

According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM), the state contributed 5.3 per cent to the country's GDP.

"The state's economic growth is driven by the services sector which expanded by 3.0 per cent, particularly in tourism-related subsectors such as wholesale and retail trade, food and beverages, and accommodation.

"In terms of GDP per capita, Perak recorded RM37,170 in 2023, up from RM37,080 the previous year," said DOSM in a statement on the Perak Socioeconomic Report 2023.

Perak ranked fourth for the highest number of domestic visitors in 2023, with 17.1 million visitors (2022: 14.6 million visitors). Among major destination attractions for visitors are Pulau Pangkor, Lost World of Tambun and Teluk Batik.

Additionally, Perak emerged in fourth place as the most visited state, receiving 7.5 million tourists (2022: 6.87 tourists).

On investment aspects, according to the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), Perak received approved investment of RM8.5 billion in 2023 comprising RM6.4 billion domestic investment and RM2.1 billion foreign investment.

The manufacturing sector, which was the second contributor to Perak’s economy, received an investment of RM2.7 billion that encompassed RM1.9 billion of foreign investment and RM800.1 million domestic investment, according to the DoSM report.

This influx of investment is expected to stimulate the local economy and create numerous new job opportunities, said the report.

Aligned with sustainable economic growth and encouraging investment performance, the labour market in Perak continued to strengthen, it said. The labour force registered 1.15 million persons in 2023, an increase of 2.7 per cent compared to the previous year (1.12 million persons), with the total number of employed persons also rising to 1.1 million persons (2022: 1.07 million persons).

The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) increased by 0.6 percentage points from 65.4 per cent to 66.0 per cent in 2023. At the same time, the unemployment rate showed a decrease to 3.9 per cent in 2023 from 4.4 per cent in the preceding year, said the report.

Meanwhile, the total trade recorded in Perak was RM66.2 billion in 2023, contracted by 10.5 per cent compared to the previous year with the value of exports and imports at RM32.4 billion and RM33.8 billion respectively.

“The key exports of Perak were telecommunication equipment, parts and accessories at RM4.8 billion, electronic integrated circuits (RM4.0 billion) and rubber gloves (RM2.7 billion).

“The main export destinations for Perak were the United States, with exports valued at RM7.4 billion, followed by China (RM5.5 billion) and Singapore (RM2.2 billion).

"Perak's main imports were piezo-electric crystals and spare parts worth RM4.4 billion, followed by integrated electronic circuits (RM2.1 billion) and telecommunication equipment, parts and accessories (RM1.1 billion). Perak's main sources of imports were from Indonesia (RM7.0 billion), China (RM6.0 billion) and Brazil (RM3.8 billion),” according to the report.

Consistent with the country's slower inflation rate in 2023, Perak's inflation also moderated to 2.8 per cent compared to 3.3 per cent in 2022, with the index value reaching 126.4 (2022: 123.0). Overall, the increase was contributed by the restaurant and hotel group (5.9%), food and beverage (4.8%), recreational and cultural services (3.8%), furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (2.3%) and miscellaneous goods and services ( 2.2%).

"The population of Perak increased from 2.51 million persons in 2022 to 2.54 million persons in 2023, with an annual population growth rate of 1.0 per cent with the Kinta district having the highest population at 908,900 while Selama recorded the lowest population (34,800).

"The majority of the population falls within the working age group of 15 to 64 years, accounting for 68.5 per cent.

"This is followed by the young age group of 0 to 14 years (21.8%) and the rest are in the old age group (9.7 per cent)," said the report.

-- BERNAMA