Chief Statistician Uzir Mahidin said the double-digit annual growth reflected a gradual recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic as the Malaysian economy reopened.

“Summarising the performance of 2021, on the supply side, the increase was propelled by domestic production which registered a value of RM3.61 trillion (a growth of 10.6%) and imports posted a value of RM981.9 billion (a growth of 25.4%).

“In terms of contribution, domestic production contributed significantly at 78% in 2021, while imports and net taxes on products recorded a share of 21.2% and 0.8% respectively.

“The domestic production was driven by the manufacturing sector with 45%,” he said in a statement on the Malaysia Input-Output Tables 2021 released today.

On the use side, it said the final use recorded 54.7% (2020: 53.9%) while intermediate use posted 45.3% (2020: 46.2%).

The final use rose 15% from RM2.2 trillion in 2020 to RM2.53 trillion in 2021.

“Within the component of final use, exports contributed the most with 43.2%, followed by private consumption with 35.5%.

“Intermediate use increased by 11% to RM2.10 trillion (2020: RM1.9 trillion),” it added.

In the context of linkages analysis, the manufacturing sector exhibited values of 1.97 and 1.76 for backward and forward linkages respectively, as the manufacturing sector and utilities sub-sector were the key sectors in the economy.

“The growth experienced in these key sectors will foster growth in other sectors, given the key sectors’ high dependence on both the supply and consumption chains in the economy,” it said.

In terms of multiplier analysis, the construction sector retained its position as the leading output multiplier with a value of 1.98 in 2021.

“This indicates that the construction sector will stimulate domestic production in the overall economy.

“For value-added, the mining and quarrying sector registered the highest value-added multiplier of 0.92,” said the department.