Penang remained Malaysia’s top exporter with a 31.5% share of total exports, followed by Selangor (17.4%), Johor (17.2%), Sarawak (9.4%) and Kuala Lumpur (5.6%), according to the statistics department (DoSM).

Chief Statistician Uzir Mahidin said exports increased year-on-year (y-o-y) in Kedah (RM850.4 million), Terengganu (RM673.6 million), Kuala Lumpur (RM539.8 million) and Pahang (RM58.0 million).

Conversely, other states recorded lower exports y-o-y, namely Johor (-RM5 billion), Penang (-RM3.3 billion), Selangor (-RM3 billion), Labuan (-RM2.1 billion), Sarawak (-RM904.8 million), Perak (-RM569 million), Melaka (-RM529.7 million), Sabah (-RM186.8 million), Negeri Sembilan (-RM125.3 million), Kelantan (-RM74.4 million) and Perlis (-RM16.6 million).

Consequently, total exports slid by 10% or RM13.2 billion y-o-y, Uzir noted in DoSM’s Export-Import Statistics by State report for December 2023 released today.

Meanwhile, imports in December 2023 increased by 2.9% y-o-y or RM3 billion.

This was attributed to higher imports in most states such as Johor (RM1.6 billion), Kuala Lumpur (RM1.5 billion), Penang (RM926 million), Negeri Sembilan (RM343 million), Pahang (RM308.9 million), Terengganu (RM183.3 million), Kelantan (RM139.8 million) and Labuan (RM16 million).

“However, imports decreased in Sarawak (-RM588.1 million), Melaka (-RM462.1 million), Selangor (-RM292.1 million), Perak (-RM268.5 million), Sabah (-RM184.3 million), Kedah (-RM113.3 million) and Perlis (-RM21.9 million),” he said.

Selangor continued to dominate Malaysia’s imports with a share of 26.2%, followed by Penang (22%), Johor (21.8%), Kuala Lumpur (7.8%), and Kedah (5.5%).