KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) today announced that the country's total trade slipped by two per cent to RM223.8 billion prompted by slower global demand and lower commodity prices.
Exports showed signs of recovery, posting a marginal contraction of 0.7% to RM119.61 billion
compared to the double-digit decline recorded last month.While imports decreased by 3.3% to RM104.19 billion.
MITI said in a statement that Malaysia's performance was similar to other regional countries namely China, Taiwan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) which recorded negative trade growth for May 2023.
Malaysia posted trade surplus for the 37th consecutive month in May 2023, with double-digit growth of 21.4 per cent to RM15.42 billion.
According to MITI, while overall exports declined, exports to major trading partners notably China, the United States (US) and Japan expanded. Higher exports was seen for petroleum products, electrical and electronic (E&E) products, machinery, equipment and parts as well as processed food.
Compared to April 2023, trade, exports, imports and trade surplus recorded double-digitexpansion of 13.2%, 13.7%, 12.6% and 22.1%, respectively.
In the first five months of 2023, total trade surpassed RM1 trillion to reach RM1.066 trillion, a decrease of 1.7% compared with the corresponding period of 2022.
Exports was down by 2.3% to RM579.39 billion and imports declined by 1% to RM486.96 billion, leading to the trade surplus edge down by 8.7% to RM92.43 billion.
