Malaysia's retail sales data for the 4th quarter of financial year 2021 (4QFY21) recorded a growth of 26.5% year-on-year (y-o-y).
According to Retail Group Malaysia (RGM), the latest quarterly report results have exceeded market expectations, with the Malaysian Retailers Association (MRA) and the Malaysian Retail Chains Association (MRCA) recording a fourth quarter (4Q) growth rate of 18.3% in November 2021.
He added that retail sales increased in the following month, December due to the Christmas and Chinese New Year celebrations.
In addition, the data also shows that more and more Malaysian consumers are making purchases at physical stores in commercial centers and shopping malls nationwide.
However, RGM stated that the Malaysian retail industry will decline by 2.3% overall for 2021.
He added that sales data for 4Q was still not enough to offset the huge losses incurred during the pandemic era.
Meanwhile, for 1QFY22 MRA and MRCA have recorded growth of 16.5% on average.
According to the data, department stores cum supermarket operators are expected to maintain the momentum of recovery with a growth rate of 28.2% in 1QFY22.
Meanwhile, convenience store operators forecast the business to grow with a growth rate of 29.9% over the same period.
