PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s total trade recorded a new achievement in 2021, surpassing RM2 trillion and recording the fastest growth since 1994, says the Statistics Department.

       Bernama reported chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin as saying that the value of Malaysia’s total trade recorded a double-digit growth of 24.8% to RM2.2 trillion in 2021 from RM1.8 trillion in 2020 after recording negative growth for two consecutive years.

       He said all states recorded an increase in total trade dominated by Selangor (RM112.6bil), Penang (RM94.4bil) and Johor (RM87.4bil). “Malaysia’s exports valued at RM1.24 trillion in 2021 weighed up 26% as compared to RM983.8bil in 2020,” he said in a statement yesterday.

       He said the increase in exports was due to the higher exports by all states, namely, Selangor (RM62.8bil), Penang (RM49.9bil), Johor (RM47.9bil), Sarawak (RM17.6bil), Kedah (RM12.8bil), Kuala Lumpur (RM12.1bil), Perak (RM11.3bil) and Sabah (RM10.4bil).

       Also recording higher exports were Pahang (RM10.3bil), Terengganu (RM8.5bil), Melaka (RM7.9bil), Negri Sembilan (RM3.1bil), Labuan (RM1bil), Perlis (RM177.2mil) and Kelantan (RM97.1mil).

       Mohd Uzir said among the top-five major exporting states, Penang remained the top exporter with a share of 29.3%, followed by Johor (20.6%), Selangor (19%), Sarawak (6.8%) and Kuala Lumpur (3.5%).

       “The export expansion was underpinned by strong exports of electronic integrated circuits in Penang,” he said. Liquefied natural gas was the main contributor to exports in Sarawak.

       Mohd Uzir said imports also recorded an increase of 23.3% to RM987.2bil in 2021 as against RM800.5bil in the previous year. The increase was due to higher imports from Selangor (RM49.8bil), Penang (RM44.5bil) and Johor (RM39.5bil), while the value of imports decreased in Sabah by RM8.7bil and Labuan, RM908.4mil.