FX.co ★ Malaysia Imports Hit All-Time High

In April 2025, Malaysia experienced a significant increase in imports, which soared by 20% year-on-year to reach an unprecedented MYR 128.37 billion. This growth far exceeded market predictions of a 3.3% rise and rebounded from the previous month's adjusted 2.9% decline. This represents the highest annual import growth since August 2024, largely driven by a dramatic rise in the acquisition of capital goods, most notably transport equipment, which spiked by an impressive 147.9%. Purchases of capital goods excluding transport also rose sharply by 112.7%. However, there was a decrease in imports of consumption goods, down by 0.7%, and intermediate goods, which fell by 1.7%. Analysis by sector shows an increase in manufacturing imports by 24.9% and agriculture by 10.8%, while mining sector imports decreased by 24.4%. Regionally, imports from China grew by 20.6%, from the US by a remarkable 111.8%, and from Taiwan by 101.7%. Conversely, imports from the EU fell by 5.9%, from Japan by 1.2%, and from Thailand by 3.9%. During the first four months of the year, total imports increased by 7.02% to MYR 465.69 billion compared to the same period in the previous year.