TOTAL TRADE FALLS BY 4.3% TO RM225.1 BILLION IN DECEMBER 2023, STATES DOSM
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% to RM225.1 billion attributed from lower exports of 10.0% to RM118.5 billion, year-on-year. In contrast, imports showed a rise, registering an increase of 2.9% to RM106.7 billion.
Meanwhile, trade balance remained in surplus with a value of RM11.8 billion, shrank by 57.8% in December 2023. For the overall performance in 2023 period, total trade declined by 7.3% 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 in Malaysia External Trade Statistics Bulletin, December 2023 released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) on 19th January. The bulletin also presents the performance of export and import products with its trading partners.
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), HKSAR, China (-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% as compared to December 2022, representing 11.6% of total imports. Intermediate goods (56.2% of total imports), grew by 10.1% 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% 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%, aligning with the reduction in exports (-6.9%) while, imports increased 1.3%. The trade surplus amounted to RM36.9 billion, a decrease of 45.9% 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%, 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% to post a value of RM214.1 billion.