KUALA LUMPUR: Stonger manufacturing growth enabled the industrial production index (IPI) for December, 2018 to increase by 3.4%, exceeding a Bloomberg survey of a 2.7%.

Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said on Monday the growth in December 2018 was driven by the increase in manufacturing index (4.4%), electricity index (2.7%) and the mining index (1.0%).

Manufacturing sector output increased by 4.4% in December 2018 after expanding by 3.7% in November 2018. 

Underpinning manufacturing's growth in December were electrical and electronic equipment products (7.2%), transport equipment and other manufactures products (7.0%) and petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products (3.6%).

The electricity sector index increased by 2.7% in December 2018 from a year ago.

The mining sector index rose by 1% in December 2018 from a year ago due to the growth in crude oil index (2.5%) but the natural gas index slipped by 0.2%.

For 2018, the IPI increased by 3.1% from 2017. The increase was contributed by the growth in manufacturing sector (4.8%) and electricity sector (3.7%). However, the mining sector declined by 1.9%.