KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's retail industry saw its retail sales surge 96 percent in the third quarter of 2022 from a year ago, the Retail Group Malaysia (RGM) said on Wednesday.

In its Malaysia retail industry report, the RGM said the growth was beyond market expectation as members of the Malaysia Retailers Association (MRA) and the Malaysia Retail Chain Association (MRCA) had projected the third quarter growth rate at 61.7 percent in September.

According to the RGM, the strong performance during this quarter was due mainly to the low base effect a year ago.

It said the recovery of domestic demand also contributed to the higher growth rate.

During the quarter, all main groups in the consumer price index recorded increases except for communication which remained unchanged.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages reported the highest average increase of 7 percent, followed by restaurants and hotels with 6.4 percent.

In addition, the average price of transport rose 5.4 percent during the quarter.

Meanwhile, members of the two retailers' association project an average growth rate of 13.9 percent for the fourth quarter of 2022.

The RGM has also revised Malaysia's annual retail industry growth rate for 2022 upwards to 41.6 percent from 31.7 percent.

For the fourth quarter of 2022, the growth rate estimate has been revised upwards from 1 percent to 6 percent, which is lower than the forecast made by members of retailers' associations.

The RGM said this revision takes into consideration the high base a year ago as well as the current challenges of Malaysia retail industry.

Nevertheless, retailers in Malaysia are hopeful that the retail industry will continue to recover at the end of this year due to two upcoming major festivals -- Christmas and Chinese New Year.