Chief Statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said along with a low base in May 2020, Malaysia’s trade continued to surge on a year-on-year basis at 48.7%, continuing with double-digit growth for four consecutive months.

Malaysia’s exports also increased by 47.3% while imports rose 50.3%.

Similarly, Uzir said in a statement, the Industrial Production Index in May continued its double-digit growth momentum and recorded a 26% increase compared to the same month last year.

The significant increase was driven by all sectors, especially manufacturing and mining (29.8%), wholesale and retail trade (28.3%) and natural rubber (33.8%)

Production of oil palm fresh fruit bunches in June increased marginally by 0.4% on a month-on-month basis to 7,979,880 tonnes (against 7,945,898 tonnes in May), although it showed a decrease of 18.5% compared to June 2020 (9,796,624 tonnes).

In terms of prices, Malaysia’s inflation rate in May surpassed 4% for the second time this year, contributed by the continuous rise in the global Food Price Index which hiked up food costs in Malaysia.

Uzir said the Consumer Price Index increased 4.4% to 123.1 against 117.9 in the same month last year, primarily attributed to the rise in transport, housing, utilities and other fuels, furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance, and food and non-alcoholic beverages.

He said the labour force increased by 3.8 million (2.4%), bringing the total to 16.1 million. The number of employed persons remained in an increasing trend to register 15.37 million.

“Malaysia’s economy is expected to face challenges in maintaining the recovery momentum. While the key economic indicators for the first five months of 2021 show encouraging performance, the Leading Index which anticipates the economic direction in the near future posted slower growth of 6.9% in May as against 15.7% in April,” he said.