KUALA LUMPUR (June 29): Malaysia's exports posted a double-digit fall for two straight months through May no thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The country's exports slumped 25.5% to RM62.7 billion in May 2020 from a year earlier, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said today. This is the second consecutive month that the export number has dropped in double-digit figures. In the month of April, the export figure plunged 23.8% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM64.9 billion.

In a statement today, DOSM said the country's imports dived 30% y-o-y to RM52.3 billion, the largest decline since January 2009.

DOSM said the decrease in exports was attributed by lower exports to India (-RM3.2 billion), Singapore (-RM2.5 billion), Thailand (-RM2.1 billion), Japan (-RM2 billion) and the European Union (-RM1.9 billion).

The main products which contributed to the decline in exports were electrical and electronic products (-RM5.8 billion), petroleum products (-RM2.9 billion), crude petroleum (-RM1.7 billion), manufacture of metal (-RM1.4 billion), chemical and chemical products (-RM1.2 billion), and machinery, equipment and parts (-RM1.1 billion). 

Meanwhile, decreases in imports were noted for petroleum products (-RM5.1 billion), chemical and chemical products (-RM2.6 billion), transport equipment (-RM2.4 billion), machinery, equipment and parts (-RM1.9 billion) and crude petroleum (-RM1.8 billion).

Lower imports were mainly from China (-RM3.3 billion), Singapore (-RM3.1 billion), the European Union (-RM2.3 billion), Thailand (-RM2.1 billion) and Indonesia (-RM1.4 billion).

The decrease in imports by end use was attributed by intermediate goods, capital goods and consumption goods. Imports of intermediate goods were lower by 27.8% or RM11.9 billion to RM30.8 billion. Capital goods stood at RM6.7 billion, decreasing 27.8% or RM2.6 billion while consumption goods declined 21.9% (-RM1.5 billion) to RM5.2 billion.