Malaysia’s trade activity experienced significant growth in August 2024, buoyed by a thriving global economy. The total trade for the month surged by 18.6 per cent to RM252.7 billion, up from RM213.0 billion in the previous year, as detailed in the Malaysia External Trade Statistics Bulletin, August 2024.
This growth was primarily driven by a notable 26.2 per cent increase in imports, reaching RM123.5 billion, while exports rose by 12.1 per cent to RM129.2 billion. Despite the impressive growth, the trade surplus narrowed sharply by 67.3 per cent to RM5.7 billion, marking the 52nd consecutive month of surplus since May 2020.
Chief Statistician Malaysia, Dato’ Sri Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin, highlighted that domestic exports, which account for 82.3 per cent of total exports, saw a 15.5 per cent increase to RM106.4 billion. Conversely, re-exports, which make up 17.7 per cent of total exports, fell by 1.2 per cent to RM22.8 billion.
Imports saw a significant uptick across various commodity groups, with 197 out of 259 groups showing increases compared to August 2023. The rise in imports was notably driven by the United States (+RM8.3 billion), China (+RM5.5 billion), and Taiwan (+RM3.0 billion).
Exports were notably higher for electrical and electronic products (+RM7.1 billion), other manufactures (+RM2.3 billion), and palm oil & palm-based agriculture products (+RM1.1 billion). Imports also increased significantly for electrical and electronic products (+RM13.7 billion), machinery and equipment (+RM2.4 billion), and chemical products (+RM1.6 billion).
The bulletin also reported that the number of transactions processed by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) in August 2024 reached a record high of 5.2 million.
Looking at the year-to-date performance, total trade for January to August 2024 grew by 10.9 per cent to RM1.9 trillion, supported by a 6.0 per cent rise in exports and a 16.8 per cent increase in imports. However, the trade surplus for this period decreased by 49.2 per cent to RM78.2 billion.
