Malaysia’s imports jumped 52.7% year-on-year to MYR 181.4 billion in September 2026, accelerating from 41.1% growth in August. This was the fastest pace since August 2022 and marked the thirteenth consecutive month of annual expansion.
The surge was driven mainly by the manufacturing sector, where imports rose 60.3%. Within manufacturing, the strongest gains were seen in electronic and electrical products (92.3%), machinery, equipment and parts (47.4%), and petroleum products (48.5%).
Import growth was also recorded in the mining sector, which increased 18.5%, supported by sharp rises in metalliferous ores and metal scrap (119.1%) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) (120.3%). Imports in the agriculture sector grew 6.3%, while imports from other sectors fell 11.1%.
By trading partner, the largest increases in imports came from China (67.6%), Singapore (90.7%) and Taiwan (55.6%). For the January–September period, total imports reached MYR 1,338.9 billion, up from MYR 1,064.9 billion in the same period a year earlier.
