KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's wholesale and retail trade sales rose 10.5 per cent year-on-year to RM173 billion in August, led by stronger wholesale trade activity, particularly petroleum-related products.

The Statistics Department said wholesale trade recorded the strongest growth among the three sub-sectors, with sales increasing 16.5 per cent to RM81.2 billion.

The increase was driven mainly by other specialised wholesale, which surged 35.6 per cent to RM35.1 billion, supported by higher sales of petrol, diesel, lubricants and liquefied petroleum gas, partly influenced by market price movements.

Retail trade sales grew 6.5 per cent to RM71.7 billion, while motor vehicle sales rose 2.5 per cent to RM20.1 billion.