KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 — Malaysia’s total trade increased 43.4 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM354.0 billion in August 2026 from RM246.8 billion in August 2025, supported by sustained double-digit growth in both exports and imports.

Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) said exports rose by 45.5 per cent y-o-y to RM191.0 billion, while imports increased by 41.1 per cent y-o-y to RM163.0 billion.

“Consequently, the trade surplus expanded by 77.1 per cent to RM28.1 billion, marking the 76th consecutive month of trade surplus since May 2020,” it said in a statement today.

The department said Malaysia’s export performance during the month was supported by double-digit growth in both domestic exports and re-exports.

Domestic exports, which accounted for 79 per cent of total exports, increased by 46.0 per cent to RM151.0 billion, while re-exports, which contributed 21 per cent of total exports, rose by 43.3 per cent to RM40.1 billion.

Imports also recorded strong growth, increasing by 41.1 per cent to RM163.0 billion.

On a month-on-month basis, it said exports, imports and total trade decreased by 1.3 per cent, 4.7 per cent and 2.9 per cent, respectively, compared with July 2026.

Meanwhile, the trade surplus increased by 24.7 per cent, or RM5.6 billion.

By commodity groups, 136 out of 258 export commodity groups and 142 out of 258 import commodity groups recorded increases against the same month last year.

“Growth in exports was mainly supported by higher shipments to the United States (RM21.2 billion), followed by Singapore (RM11.3 billion), Taiwan (RM7.2 billion), Hong Kong (RM5.3 billion), China (RM3.4 billion), Japan (RM3.0 billion) and the European Union (RM2.3 billion),” said DoSM.

Meanwhile, the increase in imports was primarily attributed to higher inflows from China (RM16.9 billion), followed by Taiwan (RM8.8 billion), Singapore (RM7.0 billion), South Korea (RM5.9 billion), Vietnam (RM1.8 billion), Japan (RM1.1 billion) and the United Arab Emirates (RM1.1 billion).

Export growth was mainly driven by higher shipments of electrical and electronic (E&E) products (RM36.9 billion), other manufactures (RM13.7 billion), liquefied natural gas (RM2.1 billion), petroleum products (RM2.0 billion), machinery, equipment and parts (RM1.9 billion) and manufacture of metal (RM1.7 billion).

Similarly, the increase in imports was driven by higher inflows of E&E products (RM38.3 billion), crude petroleum (RM3.1 billion), petroleum products (RM2.2 billion), machinery, equipment and parts (RM2.2 billion), manufacture of metal (RM1.2 billion), and optical and scientific equipment (RM1.1 billion).

By end-use category, DoSM said the increase in imports was driven mainly by intermediate goods and capital goods.

Imports of intermediate goods (55.6 per cent of total imports) increased by 50.5 per cent y-o-y or RM30.4 billion to RM90.7 billion.

Capital goods imports (13.3 per cent of total imports) rose by 37.4 per cent y-o-y to RM21.6 billion.

However, imports of consumption goods (5.7 per cent of total imports) decreased by RM153.6 million to RM9.3 billion.

Meanwhile, the department said Malaysia’s total trade for January to August 2026 increased by 27 per cent y-o-y to RM2.5 trillion from RM2.0 trillion previously, driven by strong growth in exports (31.2 per cent) and imports (22.4 per cent).

The trade surplus also expanded by 127.6 per cent y-o-y to RM198.7 billion.

“Overall, Malaysia’s trade performance for the first eight months of 2026 remained resilient, supported by continued growth in exports and imports.

“The strong performance was underpinned mainly by E&E products, alongside increased trade with major trading partners,” it added. — Bernama