Enterprises provide the encouraging environment in 1Q 2025 – DOSM

Kuala Lumpur: enterprises anticipate a favorable business environment in the first quarter of 2025 (1Q 2025), based on a positive 3.2 % trusted indicator, compared to 4.8 % in the previous quarter, according to the Malaysian Statistics (DOSM).

He mentioned that the sectors of services, constructions and industry are the three sectors that are expected for better business conditions in the first 2025.

“The business confidence for the service sector remains positive, the trusted indicator increasing to 13.5 % from 13.1 percent in the previous quarter.

“At the same time, the feelings in the construction sector were reversed in positive, registering 12.5 % compared to -10.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024 (4q 2024),” said in a statement on the statistics of the business tendency for 1Q 2025.

Meanwhile, the industry sector continues to be optimistic about business performance, with a 0.2 % trusted indicator for the analyzed quarter, compared to 1.2 % in 4Q 2024.

However, Dosm mentioned that the companies in the wholesale and retail sector expect a pessimistic perspective of the business, because the trusted indicator decreased to -8.1 % in 1Q 2025 from 5.5 % in 4q 2024.

However, the sub-sector of the retail trade remains on a positive trajectory, registering 4.1 % compared to 11.9 percent.

“Looking in the future, the prospects of the business for the first half of 2025 remain optimistic despite the moderation, with a net balance of 11.9 percent compared to 13.8 percent, all sectors registering positive results, except for wholesale and retail, which shows a neutral opinion.

The feelings in the Services Sector for January until June 2025 remain positive with a net balance of 27.5 %, as the previous quarter, while the construction sector also provides for an optimistic business perspective, with a net balance of 12.5 %, decreasing from 16.0 %for the same previous period.

The department also mentioned that, at the same time, the industry sector anticipates favorable business conditions, with a net balance of 6.8 %, compared to 4.3 % previous.

He added that the wholesale and retail trade sector shows a neutral confidence in business expectations for the next six months, influenced by mixed perceptions within the wholesale and retail sub-sectors. – Bernama