KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s trade performance reached its highest level on record for the January-September 2025 period, rising 4.4% to RM2.235 trillion despite global uncertainties, says Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
The Investment, Trade and Industry Minister said Malaysia’s strong 134% trade-to-GDP ratio, among the highest in the world, underscored the country’s deep integration with the global economy and the importance of ensuring that Malaysia remains competitive, resilient and inclusive.
“Trade has always been the heartbeat of the Malaysian economy.
“Our focus remains on strengthening diversification, fully leveraging free trade agreements, accelerating export digitalisation, expanding high-value industries and reinforcing our industrial ecosystem,” he said in a written parliamentary reply on Wednesday (Nov 26).
Tengku Zafrul said Malaysia continued to demonstrate resilience in international trade despite geopolitical tensions such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict, US-China rivalry and retaliatory tariff actions by the United States.
In 2024, total trade hit an all-time high of RM2.879 trillion, generating a trade surplus of RM136.88bil – the 27th consecutive year of surplus since 1998.
For the first nine months of 2025, he said exports grew 4.8% to RM1.170 trillion, while imports rose 4.0% to RM1.064 trillion, resulting in a surplus of RM105.65bil.
According to him, growth was driven mainly by electrical and electronics products especially semiconductors, machinery and equipment, palm oil and palm-based products, and processed food.
Tengku Zafrul said the sharp rise in E&E exports was partly due to front-loading activities in early 2025 to mitigate the impact of US tariff measures, alongside a strengthening global tech upcycle.
Malaysia, he said, also recorded higher exports to key markets including the US, Taiwan, Asean, the European Union and Hong Kong.
Trade grew moderately by 6.1% in the second quarter of 2025 to RM749.04bil as global trade policy uncertainties weighed on performance, he said.
He added that exports expanded 3.3% to RM381.67bil, while imports surged 9.0% to RM367.37bil, narrowing the trade surplus by 55.9% year-on-year.
“The temporary dip in surplus was largely due to higher imports of E&E goods, particularly integrated circuits and electrical components, driven by rapid development in domestic data centres and 5G infrastructure,” Tengku Zafrul said.
In contrast, he said Malaysia posted a stronger performance in the third quarter where trade rose 3.7% to RM769.81bil, with exports jumping 6.7% to RM410.06bil and imports inching up 0.4% to RM359.75bil.
Additionally, he said the trade surplus nearly doubled to RM50.31bil, supported by robust growth in E&E, machinery, equipment, optical and scientific products.
Malaysia also recorded encouraging investment inflows, according to Tengku Zafrul.
For the first half of 2025, he said approved investments totalled RM190.3bil, an increase of 18.7% compared with the same period in 2024.
The 3,011 approved projects in manufacturing, services and primary sectors are expected to generate 89,294 jobs, he added.
