The higher surplus accounted for 2.1% of the gross domestic product (GDP), up from 1% of GDP in Q1 2023, it said.

DoSM said the goods account recorded a net export of RM29.5 billion in Q2 2023, a decrease of 26.1% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q).

“The main exports were electrical and electronics (E&E), petroleum and chemicals products, especially to Singapore, China and the US,” it said.

In contrast, it said imports of goods increased 1.7% q-o-q to RM225.4 billion from RM221.6 billion, mainly contributed by capital and consumption goods with China, Singapore and Taiwan being the top sources of import.

On foreign direct investment (FDI), DoSM said it recorded a lower net inflow of RM3.1 billion in Q2 2023 compared with RM12 billion in the preceding quarter.

“The largest recipient of FDI was the services sector, predominantly in professional, scientific and technical, as well as financial sub-sectors,” it said, adding the main FDI sources were from Singapore, Taiwan and Germany.

On the net outflow of direct investment abroad (DIA), DoSM said it expanded to RM8 billion in Q2 2023 from RM1.1 billion in the previous quarter.

“The major sectors contributing to the DIA were services particularly in the financial, as well as information and telecommunications sub-sector, followed by agriculture and construction,” it said, adding that the top three DIA destinations were Singapore, Indonesia and Norway.

In terms of the accumulated investment as at end-Q2 2023, it said FDI recorded RM900 billion while DIA stood at RM652.1 billion.

DoSM said Malaysia’s international investment position (IIP) registered a net asset of RM160.9 billion, while Malaysia’s international reserves stood at RM522 billion.