Trade Performance : September 2018 and January - September 2018
Trade Surplus at RM15.26 Billion, Highest Since October 2008
Malaysia registered a total trade of RM150.83 billion in September 2018, an increase of 2.3% from RM147.51 billion in September 2017. Expansion in trade were seen with major trading partners, namely Hong Kong SAR, ASEAN, Taiwan, Australia, Saudi Arabia and the United States of America (USA).
On a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, exports in September 2018 expanded by 6.7% to RM83.05 billion, sustaining a monthly value above RM80 billion. Malaysia’s imports declined by 2.7% to RM67.78 billion. Trade surplus posted a double-digit increment of 85.9%, amounting to RM15.26 billion, the largest trade surplus ever recorded since October 2008. This surplus marked the 251st consecutive month of trade surplus since November 1997.
On a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis, exports and trade surplus expanded by 1.5% and 846.3%, respectively. Total trade and imports however contracted by 6.9% and 15.5%, respectively.
Total trade in the third quarter of 2018 (Q3 2018) amounted to RM476.82 billion, an expansion of 5.7% from Q3 2017. Total exports in the quarter reached RM251.01 billion, 5.2% higher compared to the same period last year while imports increased by 6.3% to RM225.81 billion. Trade surplus in Q3 2018 was recorded at RM25.2 billion, lower by 4.1% from RM26.28 billion registered in Q3 2017.
Compared with Q2 2018, total trade, exports and imports increased by 3%, 2.5% and 3.7% respectively, while trade surplus contracted by 7.1%.
For the first 9 months of 2018, total trade expanded by 5.5% to RM1.382 trillion compared to the same period in 2017. Exports increased by 6.3% to RM733.61 billion while imports grew at a slower pace of 4.7% to RM647.89 billion. Trade surplus for this period rose by 20.4% to RM85.72 billion compared to the same period last year.
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Trade Performance : September 2018 and January - September 2018
