In March 2025, Malaysia's imports experienced a decline of 2.8% year-over-year, totaling MYR 112.59 billion. This drop was contrary to market expectations of a 2.3% increase and marks a reversal from the 5.5% rise recorded in February. It is the first such decrease since October 2023 and is attributed to concerns over the potential effects of increased US tariffs. Specifically, imports of intermediate goods decreased by 0.6% to MYR 58.96 billion, while capital goods saw a more significant reduction of 19.2% to MYR 13.07 billion. However, there was a 3.6% increase in the importation of consumption goods, reaching MYR 9.73 billion.
In terms of sectors, manufacturing imports decreased by 2.8%, with petroleum products being a major contributing factor as they fell by 46.9%. The mining sector's imports plummeted by 29.0%, driven by substantial declines in crude petroleum (-28.5%) and LNG (-55.2%). Conversely, the agriculture sector witnessed a substantial growth of 34.9%, boosted by impressive gains in palm oil products (164.9%) and natural rubber (15.5%).
Regionally, the import figures showed a decline from several areas: the United States (-1.6%), Taiwan (-13.1%), the European Union (-1.3%), Japan (-8.3%), and ASEAN countries (-4.4%). However, imports from China increased by 10.1%, South Korea by 24.7%, and Vietnam by 16.9%. Over the first quarter of the year, Malaysia's imports grew by 2.8%, amounting to a total of MYR 337.37 billion.
