Malaysia's total trade up 8.6% to RM236bil in December 2022

Malaysia’s total trade for December 2022 amounted to RM236.0 billion. An increase of 8.6 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y). With exports rising 6.0 per cent y-o-y to RM131.9 billion while imports rose 12.0 per cent y-o-y to RM104.1 billion, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) today.

Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said Malaysia’s total trade in 2022 recorded a new milestone to reach RM2.8 trillion.

Meanwhile, the export performance by states showed that exports in December 2022 increased RM7.5 billion or 6.0 per cent. Compared to the same month of the previous year.

Johor (+RM4.3 billion), Sarawak (+RM2.2 billion), Selangor (+RM1.4 billion), Labuan (+RM1.4 billion), Negeri Sembilan (+RM264.1 million), Perak (+RM230.1 million), and Kedah (+RM184.0 million) were among the states with higher exports, he said in a statement.

Other states, like Melaka (+RM97.9 million), Kelantan (+RM92.9 million), Kuala Lumpur (+RM64.8 million), and Perlis (+RM14.3 million), also saw an increase in exports.

However, Mohd Uzir pointed out that Sabah’s exports fell by RM1.7 billion, Pahang’s by RM563.3 million, Terengganu’s by RM531.0 million, and Penang’s by RM531.0 million (-RM93.3 million).

When examining state-by-state import data. He pointed out that the majority of states, including Johor (+RM5.1 billion), Selangor (+RM2.7 billion), and Melaka (+RM1.8 billion), had higher imports in December 2022 than in the same month the year before. With an increase of RM11.2 billion, or 12.0 percent.

According to the chief statistician, among the top five largest exporting states. Penang continued to lead with a share of 30.8%. Followed by Johor (19.2%), Selangor (17.8%), Sarawak (9.1%), and Kuala Lumpur (4.7 per cent).

Selangor was the biggest contributor to imports. With a share of 27.2%, followed by Penang (21.9%), Johor (20.8%), and Kuala Lumpur (6.6%).