KUALA LUMPUR (June 11): Malaysia's industrial production index (IPI) grew 4% in April 2019 from a year earlier, driven by the increase in all three components of the IPI.

In a statement today, the Statistics Department said the IPI's electricity and manufacturing segments rose 5.8% and 4.3% respectively while the mining gauge was 2.3% higher.

On the manufacturing segment, the department said: "The major sub-sectors contributing to the increase in April 2019 were transport equipment and other manufactures products (7.2%), electrical and electronics products (4.1%) and petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products (3.6%)."

"The output of mining sector increased by 2.3% in April 2019 as compared to the same period of the previous year, which is the highest growth since September 2017. The growth was contributed by the natural gas index (6.1%), while the crude oil index decreased by 1.9%," the department said.

The department said the IPI grew 3% between January and April 2019 from a year earlier.

"The increase was contributed by the growth in electricity sector (5.8%) and manufacturing sector (4.1%). Meanwhile, the mining sector declined by 0.9%," the department said.