Malaysia’s exports for the first eight months 2026 continue to register strong growth of 31.2 percent to reach RM1.356 trillion as compared to RM1.033 trillion in the same period of 2025 with exports to 40 countries, including the United States, France and Ireland, had already surpassed the full-year export values recorded in 2025.
Exports to emerging markets recorded significant growth, with particularly noticeable increases in Namibia which rose by 430.6 percent, followed by Angola (+215.4%), Tanzania (+50.2%), Ethiopia (+51.2%) and Bangladesh (+20.2%), highlighting the growing contribution of emerging markets to Malaysia’s export expansion and market diversification efforts.
Among the bloc of economies, exports to BRICS member countries expanded by 19.1% to RM251.47 billion, with double-digit growth recorded across key markets including China (+23.7%), India (+23.4%), Brazil (+27.5%), and South Africa (+43.4%). Notably, exports to Ethiopia had already surpassed the full year export value recorded in 2025, highlighting growing market penetration and the emerging potential of non-traditional markets to support Malaysia’s export diversification efforts.
Export growth is also seen across diversified industries and products. Beyond the electrical & electronic (E&E) sector, other manufactured goods such as optical and scientific equipment also rose significantly by 37.6%, followed by petroleum products (+26.6%), manufactures of metal (+21.6%), machinery, appliances and parts (+18.4%), and liquefied natural gas (LNG) (+17.2%).
The palm oil-based manufactured products also registered strong growth, driven particularly by oleochemicals, which increased by 12.6%, with Malaysian SMEs making a significant contribution to the expansion of this export segment. The performance underscores the important role of SMEs in strengthening Malaysia’s value-added and downstream based exports and expanding the export base beyond E&E products.
