KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 11): Malaysia's industrial production index, comprising the statistics of the three main sectors — mining, manufacturing and electricity, grew 1.9% year-on-year (y-o-y) in August, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia.

Chief Statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the growth in August 2019 was driven by the increase in the index of manufacturing (3.7%) and electricity (0.3%), adding that the index of mining, by contrast, recorded a decline of 3.9%.

The department also reported that the manufacturing sector output rose by 3.7% y-o-y in August 2019 after recording a growth of 4% y-o-y in July 2019.

The major sub-sectors contributing to the increase in August 2019 were non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products (4.3%), electrical and electronics products (3.5%) and petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products (2.8%), it said.

The electricity sector output increased by 0.3% in August 2019 as compared to the same month of the previous year, said the department.

Meanwhile, the mining sector output recorded a 3.9% drop in August 2019 as compared to the same period in the previous year.

"The decline was due to the decrease in the crude oil and condensate index (-9.5%)," it added.

In addition, the natural gas index grew 1.2%.