Consumer spending in Malaysia to increase 5.8% in 2017

It will grow at an annual average of 5.3% between 2017-2021.

BMI Research reported that consumer spending in Malaysia is set to increase. The rise will be brought about the increasing disposable income.

Real household spending growth in Malaysia will continue to expand the medium term. However, it will be modest on the back of an uptick in inflation and slightly weaker currency. Household spending will become more dynamic over the medium term as the share of non-essential spending rises. BMI foresees household spending real to grow at an annual average of 5.3% between 2017-2021. In 2017 we project a y-o-y increase of 5.8%

Rising disposable incomes will foster discretionary spending, highlighted by robust growth in education; restaurants and hotels; and recreation and culture spending. According to BMI, these categories are set to grow at an annual average rate of 8.7%, 8.5% and 8.2% respectively.
Consumer spending in Malaysia will benefit from a youthful and increasingly urbanised population; rising household incomes; and low levels of unemployment. The growing middle class and relatively low inflation will help generate demand for non-essential items and luxury goods.

Here’s more from BMI:

The country is also experiencing a shift in retail formats with the government supporting development of 'big-box boulevards' - concentrated centres of shopping outlets on the outskirts of cities. This is helping to attract both domestic and international retailers, who are keen to capitalise on the forecast rise in household spending in the retail sectors. We forecast total household spending to expand at an annual growth rate of 7.5% between 2017 and 2021 and reach a total figure of MYR1trn (up from MYR774bn in 2017), which converts into USD172bn in 2017 and USD265 in 2021.

Reaching the people who run Asia's businesses is harder than it used to be.

Inboxes are crowded. Attention is short. The executives you most want to reach — the founders, CFOs, and operators who actually move budgets — are the hardest to find through the usual channels. If you're building a company, a category, or a reputation, you already know this.

We've spent twenty years building the room they read. Singapore Business Review is where senior decision makers in Singapore and across Southeast Asia come for business coverage they can't get elsewhere — in print, online, and in person at the summits and roundtables we host across seven markets.

If you have something these readers should know about — a point of view worth publishing, a product worth their attention, an event worth their time — we'd like to hear what you're trying to do.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia