KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s construction spending expanded 15.1% to RM28.74 billion in the first quarter of this year (1Q15) from RM24.97 billion a year ago, led by the non-residential buildings sub-sector which contributed the biggest share of 34.8%.

This was followed by the civil engineering sub-sector (30.5%), residential buildings (29.9%), and special trades (4.8%).

The 15.1% growth was faster than the 9.7% pace in 4Q14, but slower than the 21.2% in 1Q14.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, construction spending grew 6.1% from 4Q14, slower than the 7.1% pace in 4Q14, but faster than 1.1% seen in 1Q14.

In a statement yesterday, the Statistics Department said Selangor continued to record the highest value of construction work done at RM7.55 billion or 26.9% of the total value of construction work done by all the states.

This was followed by Kuala Lumpur at RM5.14 billion (17.9%), Johor at RM4.79 billion (16.7%), Sarawak at RM2.21 billion (7.7%) and Penang at RM1.6 billion (5.6%).

The contribution from these five states accounted for 74.1% of the total value of construction work done.

Meanwhile, the private sector continued to dominate the construction sector, with a 68.4% share in 1Q15, with the public sector accounting for the remaining 31.6%

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on May 13, 2015.