Malaysia's December exports grew more than expected.

Malaysia's export growth in December exceeded expectations, pushing the annual export and import figures to a historic high. The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry of Malaysia said on Tuesday that exports in December grew by 10.4% year-on-year to 152.95 billion Malaysian Ringgit, faster than the 7.0% growth in November. Import increased by 12.0% to 133.68 billion Ringgit. This resulted in a trade surplus of 19.28 billion Ringgit, compared to 6.1 billion Ringgit in November. Economists surveyed previously expected exports to grow by 2.7%, imports by 7.4%, resulting in a surplus of 14.1 billion Ringgit. The data for December led to a full-year export growth rate of 6.5% in 2025, higher than 5.7% in 2024, with total exports reaching 1.607 trillion Ringgit. The ministry stated that this growth was mainly driven by record exports to traditional trading partners in Southeast Asian countries and the United States, with strong shipments of electrical and electronic products. Annual imports increased by 6.2% to 1.455 trillion Ringgit, resulting in a total trade surplus of 151.8 billion Ringgit.