KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s December exports grew 2.7% from a year earlier, beating market expectations, on shipments of electronics and higher demand from US and European Union countries, official data released here the other day.
A survey of 11 economists by The Wall Street Journal had predicted a median 1.1% year-on-year growth. In November, exports expanded 2.1% from a year earlier.
Exports totaled 67.7 billion ringgit ($18.9 billion) compared with 65.9 billion ringgit during the same month last year, the Ministry of International Trade and Industries said in a statement.
Electronic products, which make up over one-third of total exports, surged 15% in December while liquefied natural gas climbed 13%.
An import in December was up 4.2% at 68.5 billion ringgit from 56.1 billion ringgit a year earlier, it said. Economists in the same WSJ poll had predicted an increase of 2.6% compared with the same month last year.
Rise in imports was mainly led by intermediate goods and consumption items which rose 12% and 4.5%, respectively. However, imports of capital goods fell 2.7% in December.
Malaysia’s trade surplus narrowed to 9.2 billion ringgit from 11.1 billion ringgit in November, the ministry said.
