June 8 – Six states recorded an increase in total trade amid a 3.6% decline in Malaysia’s trade to RM1.78 trillion in 2020 albeit Covid-19 pandemic that has also affected trade around the world, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said.

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the states were Penang (+RM38.6bil), Sabah (+RM4.5bil), Pahang (+RM3.5bil), Kedah (+RM3bil), Kelantan (+RM969.7mil), and Perak (+RM294.8mil).

“Five states that dominated Malaysia’s export were Penang (31.8%), Johor (20%), Selangor (18.9%), Sarawak (6.7%), and Perak (3.2%). The contribution of these five states accounted for 80.5% of Malaysia’s total exports,” he said in a statement today.

Mohd Uzir noted that Malaysia exports last year valued at RM981.0 billion, down 1.4% compared to RM995.1 billion in 2019 while imports decreased 6.3% to RM796.2 billion in 2020 from RM849.4 billion in the previous year.

He said the decline in exports was due to the lower exports, mainly by Sarawak (-RM15.5 billion), Selangor (-RM11.3 billion), Johor (-RM5.3 billion), Sabah (-RM4.2 billion), Kuala Lumpur (-RM3.4 billion), Terengganu (-RM2.8 billion), Negeri Sembilan (-RM2.3 billion), Labuan (-RM2.1 billion), Kedah (-RM0.4 billion), and Perlis (-RM0.1 billion).

“However, the value of exports increased in Penang by RM28.4 billion, Pahang (+RM3.4 billion), Perak (+RM2.0 billion), Melaka (+RM0.5 billion), and Kelantan (+RM0.1 billion),” he added.

At the same time, the decline in imports was induced by lower imports from Selangor (-RM23.7 billion), Johor (-RM19.7 billion), Kuala Lumpur (-RM10.2 billion), Melaka (-RM9.7 billion), Negeri Sembilan (-RM6.1 billion), Terengganu (-RM1.8 billion), Perak (-RM1.7 billion), Sarawak (-RM1.2 billion), Perlis (-RM0.5 billion) and Labuan (-RM0.2 billion).

On the contrary, Penang recorded higher imports of RM10.2 billion, followed by Sabah (+RM8.6 billion), Kedah (+RM3.4 billion), Kelantan (+RM0.9 billion), and Pahang (+RM0.1 billion).

Source: Bernama