The economy ministry said this was because the contribution of the F&B sub-sector to the gross domestic product was small.

The tendency of consumers to switch to locally branded business products also balances the impact and further increases the domestic economic activities.

“Although the boycott movement is still ongoing, Malaysia continues to record encouraging economic growth supported by resilient domestic economic activities,” said the ministry in a written reply posted on the official Parliament website.

However, the ministry said there had been an increase in the number of workers who had lost their jobs based on the Employment Insurance System Report by the Social Security Organisation (Socso).

For the period from January to May 2024, a total of 22,315 workers lost their jobs compared to 18,026 for the same period in 2023, which is an increase of 23.8%.

Of this total, 1,091 or 4.9% are workers in the accommodation and food service activities sector.

The ministry said a total of 583 workers of the reported job losses in the sector were due to business closures and downsizing.

“This job loss data is in general and not skewed to the food and beverage sector only,” he said.