Malaysia flag Malaysia: Economic and Political Overview

Foreign trade figures of Malaysia

Foreign Trade in Figures

Malaysia is well known for its openness to international trade, which represents roughly 136% of its GDP in 2025 (World Bank), making the country vulnerable to external demand. Electrical and electronic products dominate trade: in 2025, electronic integrated circuits accounted for 31.5% of exports, followed by refined petroleum products (7.9%), computers (4.2%), palm oil (3.2%), petroleum gas (2.9%), and telephone sets (2.4%). Imports were led by electronic integrated circuits (19.9%), refined petroleum products (6.3%), computers (5.4%), crude oil (3.7%), and telephone sets (3.1% - data Comtrade).

In terms of countries, the main export destinations in 2025 were Singapore (17.5% of total exports), the United States (13.2%), China (11.3%), Hong Kong (6.8%), Taiwan (6.1%), and Japan (4.3%); whereas imports came chiefly from China (the largest import source since 2011, accounting for 24.3% of the total), Singapore (10.5%), Taiwan (10.0%), the United States (9.1%), and Japan (4.6% - data Comtrade). The government supported the creation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a multilateral free-trade agreement negotiated between Asia-Pacific and North American countries. The treaty, signed by Malaysia and eleven other nations in order to boost inter-regional trade, was renamed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) after the withdrawal of the United States in January 2017 and ratified by the Malaysian government in 2022. In 2020, Malaysia has signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) with 14 other Indo-Pacific countries. This free trade agreement is the largest trade deal in history, covering 30 per cent of the global economy. It includes the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) and ASEAN’s free trade agreement partners (Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea). The RCEP covers goods, services, investment, economic and technical cooperation. It also creates new rules for electronic commerce, intellectual property, government procurement, competition, and small and medium-sized enterprises.

According to WTO data, exports of goods amounted to USD 376.0 billion and imports reached USD 340.4 billion in 2025 (+13.7 and +13.4% y-o-y, respectively). With regard to services, in 2024 Malaysia exported USD 53.4 billion (+25.1%) and imported USD 56.4 billion (+8%). The overall trade balance was estimated to be positive by 5.5% of GDP in 2025 (from 5.3% one year earlier - World Bank). According to figures from MATRADE, exports, imports, and total trade for January to December 2025 increased by 6.5%, 6.2%, and 6.3%, respectively, compared to the previous year, with the trade surplus reaching MYR 151.8 billion.

 
Foreign Trade Values 20212022202320242025
Imports of Goods (million USD) 238,240293,797265,667300,216340,436
Exports of Goods (million USD) 299,425352,094312,965330,761376,041
Imports of Services (million USD) 37,08045,24552,19656,37164,484
Exports of Services (million USD) 21,24631,94242,67153,40264,294

Source: World Trade Organisation (WTO) ; Latest available data

Foreign Trade Indicators 20212022202320242025
Foreign Trade (in % of GDP) 134.0146.4132.6137.4136.4
Trade Balance (million USD) 42,81442,42529,96025,667n/a
Trade Balance (Including Service) (million USD) 26,98029,12220,43522,698n/a
Imports of Goods and Services (Annual % Change) 21.216.0-6.88.24.6
Exports of Goods and Services (Annual % Change) 18.514.5-7.98.33.1
Imports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP) 63.469.663.966.065.4
Exports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP) 70.676.868.771.371.0

Source: World Bank ; Latest available data

Foreign Trade Forecasts 2026 (e)2027 (e)2028 (e)2029 (e)2030 (e)
Volume of exports of goods and services (Annual % change) 2.04.34.13.92.9
Volume of imports of goods and services (Annual % change) 2.53.84.33.62.7

Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook ; Latest available data

Note: (e) Estimated Data

 
International Economic Cooperation
Malaysia is a member of the following international economic organisations: IMF, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), ICC, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Commonwealth, G-15, G-77, WTO, among others. For the full list of economic and other international organisations in which participates Malaysia click here. International organisation membership of Malaysia is also outlined here.
Free Trade Agreements
Malaysia is a member of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) signed on 15 November 2020. The complete and up-to-date list of Free Trade Agreements signed by Malaysia can be consulted here.
 

Main Partner Countries

Main Customers
(% of Exports)
2025
Singapore 15.5%
United States 14.5%
China 11.8%
Hong Kong SAR, China 6.0%
Japan 4.8%
See More Countries 47.5%
Main Suppliers
(% of Imports)
2025
China 24.3%
Singapore 10.5%
United States 9.2%
Japan 4.6%
South Korea 4.4%
See More Countries 47.0%

Source: Comtrade, 2026. Because of rounding, the sum of the percentages may be smaller/greater than 100%.

 
 

Main Products

375.0 bn USD of products exported in 2025
Electronic integrated circuits; parts thereofElectronic integrated circuits; parts thereof 27.2%
Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous...Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals (excl. crude); preparations containing >= 70% by weight of petroleum oils or of oils obtained from bituminous minerals, these oils being the basic constituents of the preparations, n.e.s.; waste oils containing mainly petroleum or bituminous minerals 5.9%
Automatic data-processing machines and units...Automatic data-processing machines and units thereof; magnetic or optical readers, machines for transcribing data onto data media in coded form and machines for processing such data, n.e.s. 4.1%
Palm oil and its fractions, whether or not refined...Palm oil and its fractions, whether or not refined (excl. chemically modified) 4.0%
Petroleum gas and other gaseous hydrocarbonsPetroleum gas and other gaseous hydrocarbons 3.6%
See More Products 55.2%
339.5 bn USD of products imported in 2025
Electronic integrated circuits; parts thereofElectronic integrated circuits; parts thereof 19.8%
Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous...Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals (excl. crude); preparations containing >= 70% by weight of petroleum oils or of oils obtained from bituminous minerals, these oils being the basic constituents of the preparations, n.e.s.; waste oils containing mainly petroleum or bituminous minerals 6.3%
Automatic data-processing machines and units...Automatic data-processing machines and units thereof; magnetic or optical readers, machines for transcribing data onto data media in coded form and machines for processing such data, n.e.s. 5.4%
Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous...Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, crude 3.7%
Telephone sets, incl. telephones for cellular...Telephone sets, incl. telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks; other apparatus for the transmission or reception of voice, images or other data, incl. apparatus for communication in a wired or wireless network [such as a local or wide area network]; parts thereof (excl. than transmission or reception apparatus of heading 8443, 8525, 8527 or 8528) 3.1%
See More Products 61.6%

Source: Comtrade, 2026. Because of rounding, the sum of the percentages may be smaller/greater than 100%.

 
 

To go further, check out our service Import-Export Flows.

 

Main Services

31.7 bn USD of services exported in 2022
22.50%
19.93%
18.26%
14.44%
11.43%
4.31%
2.49%
1.92%
1.81%
1.75%
0.89%
0.26%
44.6 bn USD of services imported in 2022
30.39%
23.40%
14.90%
9.31%
6.20%
6.01%
2.44%
1.99%
1.97%
1.55%
1.32%
0.53%

Source: United Nations Statistics Division, 2026. Because of rounding, the sum of the percentages may be smaller/greater than 100%.

Return to top

Any Comment About This Content? Report It to Us.

 

© eexpand, All Rights Reserved.
Latest Update: October 2026