Malaysia's manufacturing sales in 2002 eased 0.4 percent from the year before, official figures showed Tuesday.

Sales in manufacturing, the key driver of the economy, dipped to RM307.8 billion, down from RM308.9 billion in 2001, the Statistics Department said.

But total salaries and wages paid last year rose marginally to RM18.08 billion, up from RM17.98 billion in 2001, it said in a statement.

In December, manufacturing sales rose 11.7 percent from a year earlier to RM25.8 billion but dropped 1.9 percent from November. The sector employed 971,558 people as at end-December.

Economists said the annual decline was expected amid global economic uncertainties due to a looming war in Iraq, which put the brakes o­n global demand and led to foreign investments falling worldwide.