KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s total trade for February amounted to RM184.8bil, or an increase of 17.5% year-on-year (y-o-y), with exports of RM102.3bil (an increase of 16.8%) and imports worth RM82.5bil (up 18.4%), according to the Statistics Department.

       “The higher imports were mainly from Penang (RM3.1bil), Selangor (RM2.7bil), Johor (RM1.7bil), Kedah (RM1.5bil), Sarawak (RM1.2bil), Kuala Lumpur (RM972.5mil), Pahang (RM806.6mil), Terengganu (RM578.3mil), Negri Sembilan (RM449.2mil), Sabah (RM273.5mil) and Perlis (RM18.2mil).

       “However, imports decreased in Melaka (down RM563.5mil), Perak (-RM452.4 million), Kelantan (-RM57.0 million), and Labuan (-RM5.6 million),” the chief statistician of Malaysia Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in a statement today, updating export-import statistics by state for February.

       On the performance of exports by state, Mohd Uzir said exports in February increased RM14.7bil, or 16.8%, compared with the same month of the previous year.

       Higher exports were recorded in most states such as Penang (RM5.7bil), Sarawak (RM3bil), Kedah (RM2.2bil), Labuan (RM1.6bil), Selangor (RM1.5bil), Sabah (RM1.2bil, Johor (RM1.1bil), Kuala Lumpur (RM1bil), Pahang (RM103.8mil) and Perlis (RM23.9mil).However, exports decreased in Melaka (down RM1.2bil), Perak (down RM1.1bil), Terengganu (down RM320.2mil), Kelantan (down RM199.5mil), and Negri Sembilan ( minus RM31.7mil).

       Among the top five major importing states, Selangor remained the largest contributor with a share of 26.3%, followed by Penang (23.1%), Johor (20.2%), Kuala Lumpur (7.1%), and Kedah (6.2%).

       As for exports, Penang remained the top exporter with a share of 29.6%, followed by Selangor (19.3%), Johor (18.7%), Sarawak (8.2%), and Kedah (4.8%). — Bernama