KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's total trade for December 2022 amounted to RM236.0 billion, an increase of 8.6 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y), with exports rising 6.0 per cent y-o-y to RM131.9 billion while imports rose 12.0 per cent y-o-y to RM104.1 billion, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) today.

Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said Malaysia's total trade in 2022 recorded a new milestone to reach RM2.8 trillion.

Meanwhile, the export performance by states showed that exports in December 2022 increased RM7.5 billion or 6.0 per cent compared to the same month of the previous year.

"Higher exports were recorded in most states such as Johor (+RM4.3 billion), Sarawak (+RM2.2 billion), Selangor (+RM1.4 billion), Labuan (+RM1.4 billion), Negeri Sembilan (+RM264.1 million), Perak (+RM230.1 million), and Kedah (+RM184.0 million)," he said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, other states, namely Melaka recorded higher exports of RM97.9 million, Kelantan (+RM92.9 million), Kuala Lumpur (+RM64.8 million), and Perlis (+RM14.3 million).

However, Mohd Uzir noted that exports decreased for Sabah (-RM1.7 billion), Pahang (-RM563.3 million), Terengganu (-RM531.0 million) and Penang (-RM93.3 million).

Looking at the performance of imports by state, he noted that imports also increased RM11.2 billion or 12.0 per cent in December 2022 compared to the same month of the previous year due to the higher imports in most states such as Johor (+RM5.1 billion), Selangor (+RM2.7 billion) and Melaka (+RM1.8 billion).

Among the top five major exporting states, the chief statistician said Penang remained as the top exporter with a share of 30.8 per cent, followed by Johor (19.2 per cent), Selangor (17.8 per cent), Sarawak (9.1 per cent), and Kuala Lumpur (4.7 per cent).

As for imports, Selangor was the largest contributor with a share of 27.2 per cent, followed by Penang (21.9 per cent), Johor (20.8 per cent), Kuala Lumpur (6.6 per cent), and Kedah (5.8 per cent).

-- BERNAMA