Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia's total trade expanded 29.8% year-on-year to 327.63 billion MYR (81.9 billion USD) in May 2026, marking the fastest growth in 44 months as exports and trade surplus reached new monthly record highs.
The Malaysian Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) said exports rose 45.3% to an all-time high of 184 billion MYR, surpassing the previous record set in April and registering the fastest export growth since August 2022.
The Southeast Asian country's imports also increased 14.1% to 143.62 billion MYR. As a result, trade surplus widened to a record monthly high of 40.38 billion MYR, reflecting export growth outpacing imports significantly, marking the 73rd consecutive month of surplus since May 2020.
The ministry said export growth was primarily driven by manufactured and mining products, both of which posted double-digit expansion.
Malaysia’s export performance remained broad-based, with all major trading partners, namely the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, US, Taiwan (China) and the EU, recording strong double-digit growth.
The ministry noted that Malaysia's network of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) continued to support market expansion, contributing to higher exports to Mexico, the UK, Canada and Pakistan across various product categories.
Between January and May, the country’s total trade rose 18.3% to 1.455 trillion MYR compared with the same period a year earlier. Exports increased 24.3% to 793.84 billion MYR, while imports grew 11.8% to 661.07 billion MYR, resulting in a trade surplus of 132.77 billion MYR. According to MITI, all these figures reached historic highs for the period./.
Malaysia records sustained growth in domestic tourism
The increase was driven by growth in both overnight visitors and excursionists, whose spending rose by 14.6% and 12.2%, respectively, said a Malaysian official.
