Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) announced that Malaysia’s total trade increased by 27.3% year-on-year (y-o-y) in March 2022, with a strong record of MYR 236.6 billion (USD 53.89 billion). The export and import values in the same month reached all-time highs of MYR 131.6 billion (USD 29.97 billion) and MYR 104.9 billion (USD 23.89 billion), respectively.
One of the major highlights is that Malaysia’s imports have exceeded MYR 100 billion (USD 22.77 billion) for the first time, reflecting a boom in intermediate goods and indicating a strong sign of local economic growth. Also, the trade surplus increased by 10.3% from MYR 24.2 billion (USD 5.5 billion) last year to MYR 26.7 billion (USD 6.08 billion) this year, representing the 23rd consecutive month of trade surplus since May 2020. Regarding the performance of the first quarter of 2022, the country’s overall trade, exports, imports, and trade surplus continued to rise at double-digit rates of 23.6%, owing to increases in exports (+22.2%) and imports (+25.2%). The value of trade surplus also increased to MYR 65.1 billion (USD 14.82 billion).
Export-wise, Malaysia recorded a rise of 25.4% in March 2022 to MYR 131.6 billion (USD 29.97 billion) y-o-y, attributed to both domestic exports and re-exports. Domestic exports totaled MYR 106.9 billion (USD 24.35 billion) or 81.2% of total exports while re-exports totaled MYR 24.7 billion (USD 5.6 billion), up by 38.0% y-o-y.
Imports, on the other hand, surged by 29.9% to MYR 104.9 billion (USD 23.8 million) and positive growth was seen in 186 of 259 groups.
(Sources: New Straits Times; Malay Mail)
