Brunei’s trade surplus jumped to BND 884.9 million in August 2026, up from BND 415.9 million in the same month a year earlier, reaching its highest level since April as export growth far outpaced imports. Exports surged 58.0% year-on-year to BND 1.75 billion, the strongest reading since July 2022, supported by robust increases in shipments of mineral fuels (61.6%) and chemicals (55.8%).
China was the largest export market, taking 22.9% of total shipments, followed by Australia (22.1%), Singapore (15.3%), and South Korea (9.3%).
On the import side, growth was more moderate, with inbound shipments rising 25.2% to BND 870.0 million. The increase was driven mainly by higher imports of mineral fuels (37.5%), chemicals (15.7%), and food (11.3%). Malaysia remained Brunei’s top import source, accounting for 57.6% of total imports, followed by Vietnam (11.4%), Sweden (5.6%), China (4.7%), and Nigeria (4.5%).
Over the first eight months of the year, the trade surplus widened to BND 5.11 billion from BND 3.40 billion a year earlier, as exports rose 35.8% while imports increased 27.2%.
