Malaysia’s total trade faced a continuous decline in December 2023, marking the 10th consecutive month of downturn since March 2023, driven by weakened global demand and lower commodity prices.
Total trade fell by 4.3 per cent to RM225.1 billion attributed from lower exports of 10.0 per cent to RM118.5 billion, year-on-year. In contrast, imports showed a rise, registering an increase of 2.9 per cent to RM106.7 billion.
Meanwhile, trade balance remained in surplus with a value of RM11.8 billion, shrank by 57.8 per cent in December 2023. For the overall performance in 2023 period, total trade declined by 7.3 per cent along with export (-8.0%) and import (-6.4%) performance.
The favourable performance of merchandise trade in 2022 influenced the annual growth for this year as reported today in Malaysia External Trade Statistics Bulletin, December 2023 released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) today (Jan 19). The bulletin also presents the performance of export and import products with its trading partners.
Chief Statistician Malaysia Dato’ Sri Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin said, “Malaysia’s export performance recorded a reduction in December 2023 in line with the decline by both re-exports and domestic exports. Re-exports amounted to RM21.2 billion, shrank by 20.3 per cent as compared to December 2022. Domestic exports worth RM97.3 billion, contributing 82.1 per cent to total exports, dropped by 7.4 per cent. Imports in December 2023 worth RM106.7 billion, rose by 2.9 per cent as compared to the same month last year. Meanwhile, trade surplus, contracted by 57.8 per cent to RM11.8 billion, was the 44th consecutive month of trade surplus since May 2020. As compared to November 2023, the performance of exports, imports, total trade and trade balance recorded a contraction of 2.7 per cent, 2.6 per cent, 2.6 per cent and 3.6 per cent, respectively.”
From the perspective of the commodity group, 132 out of 257 export groups showed a decline, while 132 out of 259 import groups increased compared to the same month of the previous year.
Dr. Mohd Uzir explained that the slower exports was attributable to the decline mainly to Singapore (-RM5.2 billion) followed by the European Union (-RM3.1 billion), India (-RM1.0 billion), Republic of Korea (-RM815.4 million), the United States (-RM792.7 million), Hong Kong (-RM731.8 million) and Thailand (-RM565.3 million). Meanwhile, higher imports was mainly from the United States (+RM1.5 billion), followed by Singapore (+RM1.3 billion), Republic of Korea (+RM732.2 million), Sudan (+RM592.9 million), Saudi Arabia (+RM530.2 million) and Russia (+RM436.6 million).
Commenting further on exports, the fall was in line with the drop in electrical & electronic products (-RM6.3 billion); palm oil & palm-based agriculture products (-RM2.8 billion) and petroleum products (-RM2.6 billion). Meanwhile, the increase in imports was logged for crude petroleum (+RM2.3 billion); electrical & electronic products (+RM1.9 billion) and other agriculture (+RM640.7 million).
He said, “The rise in imports by End Use was in line with higher demand for capital goods and intermediate goods. Imports of capital goods with a value of RM12.4 billion, rose by 24.6 per cent as compared to December 2022, representing 11.6 per cent of total imports. Intermediate goods (56.2% of total imports), grew by 10.1 per cent from RM54.5 billion in the previous year to RM60.0 billion. Consumption goods (8.6% of total imports), valued at RM9.2 billion, registered a decrease of 0.7 per cent or RM60.3 million.”
Performance for the fourth quarter of 2023, total trade and exports experienced a decline compared to the same period last year. Total trade fell by 3.2 per cent, aligning with the reduction in exports (-6.9%) while, imports increased 1.3 per cent. The trade surplus amounted to RM36.9 billion, a decrease of 45.9 per cent compared to the same period in 2022.
Total trade, exports, imports and trade surplus also showed a downward trend for the overall performance in 2023 period. Total trade fell by 7.3 per cent, from RM2.8 trillion to RM2.6 trillion, in line with the decline in exports (-8.0%) as well as imports (-6.4%). At the same time, trade surplus declined by 16.4 per cent to post a value of RM214.1 billion.
