Comprised of two similarly sized land masses in Southeast Asia, namely Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia, Malaysia shipped US$329.5 billion worth of exported products around the world in 2024.

That dollar amount results from a 41.1% advance compared to $233.6 billion five years earlier during 2020.

Year over year, the overall value of Malaysian exports rose by 5.3% from $313 billion in 2023.

Based on the average exchange rate for 2024, the Malaysian ringgit fell by -0.3% from 2023 to 2024. Malaysia’s weaker local currency made its exports paid for in stronger US dollars modestly less expensive for international buyers starting from American currency.

Malaysia is a world leader for exporting vulcanized rubber clothing or accessories and ranks among the top countries for global sales of palm oil, solar power diodes or semi-conductors, and electronic integrated circuits.

Malaysia’s Best International Trade Customers

The latest available country-specific data shows that 78.2% of products exported from Malaysia was bought by importers in: Singapore (15.3% of the Malaysian total), United States of America (13.2%), mainland China (12.4%), Hong Kong (5.9%), Japan (5.5%), Taiwan (4.4%), Thailand (3.9%), Indonesia (3.61%), South Korea (3.58%), Vietnam (3.57%), India (3.46%) and Australia (3.3%).

From a continental perspective, 69.4% of Malaysian exports by value was delivered to countries located in fellow Asian nations while 14.9% was sold to importers in North America. Malaysia shipped another 8.8% worth of goods to buyers in Europe.

Smaller percentages went to customers in Oceania (3.9%) led by Australia and New Zealand, Africa (2.1%), then Latin America (0.9%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean.

Given Malaysia’s population of 33.5 million people, its total $329.5 billion in 2024 exports translates to roughly $9,850 for every resident in the Southeast Asian country. That per-capita amount surpasses the average $9,500 in 2023.

Malaysia’s Top 10 Exports

The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Malaysian global shipments during 2024. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Malaysia.

1. Electrical machinery, equipment: US$121.2 billion (36.8% of total exports)
2. Mineral fuels including oil: $47.5 billion (14.4%)
3. Machinery including computers: $31.9 billion (9.7%)
4. Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $18.7 billion (5.7%)
5. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $15.5 billion (4.7%)
6. Plastics, plastic articles: $9.7 billion (2.9%)
7. Rubber, rubber articles: $6.7 billion (2%)
8. Aluminum: $6.6 billion (2%)
9. Iron, steel: $6.5 billion (2%)
10. Other chemical goods: $6.2 billion (1.9%)

Malaysia’s top 10 export product categories generated over four-fifths (82.1%) of the overall value of Malaysian shipments.

Machinery including computers was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 33.1% from 2023 to 2024.

In second place for improving export sales was rubber, both as materials and items made from rubber, via a 21.7% advance.

Malaysia’s shipments of optical, technical and medical apparatus posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 13.3%.

The leading decliner among Malaysia’s top 10 export categories was mineral fuels including oil, recording a -8.2% year-over-year drop.

Note that the results listed above are at the categorized two-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level. For a more granular view of exported goods at the four-digit HTS code level, see below.

At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, Malaysia’s most valuable export products are electronic integrated circuits and microassemblies (23.3% of Malaysia’s total exports), processed petroleum oils (7.8%), petroleum gases (4.5%), palm oil (4.1%), computers including optical readers (3.3%), solar power diodes or semi-conductors (2.5%), unrecorded sound media (2.4%), phone devices including smartphones (2%), crude oil (1.9%) then oscilloscopes and spectrum analyzers (1.8%).

Products Generating the Highest Trade Surpluses for Malaysia

Malaysia posted an overall US$29.9 billion surplus on goods traded during 2024, down -36.3% from $47 billion in black ink one year earlier for 2023.

The following types of Malaysian product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.

In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.

1. Electrical machinery, equipment: US$35.3 billion (Down by -23.8% since 2023)
2. Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $16.4 billion (Up by 14%)
3. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $8.3 billion (Up by 18.6%)
4. Rubber, rubber articles: $2.6 billion (Up by 21.1%)
5. Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefab buildings: $1.9 billion (Up by 6.7%)
6. Other chemical goods: $1.5 billion (Reversing a -$62.8 million deficit)
7. Aluminum: $1.2 billion (Up by 46%)
8. Wood: $1.1 billion (Down by -12.8%)
9. Cereal/milk preparations: $884.7 million (Up by 1.6%)
10. Glass: $874.8 million (Up by 12.1%)

Malaysia has highly positive net exports in the international trade of electronics including consumer electronic gadgets.
In turn, these cashflows indicate Malaysia’s strong competitive advantages under the electrical machinery and equipment product category.

Products Causing the Greatest Trade Deficits for Malaysia

Below are exports from Malaysia that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Malaysia’s goods trail Malaysian importer spending on foreign products.

1. Machinery including computers: -US$7 billion (Up by 425.8% since 2023)
2. Vehicles: -$5.8 billion (Down by -4.1%)
3. Gems, precious metals: -$2.8 billion (Up by 41.1%)
4. Cereals: -$2.6 billion (Up by 5.3%)
5. Aircraft, spacecraft: -$2 billion (Down by -19.1%)
6. Inorganic chemicals: -$1.95 billion (Up by 29.2%)
7. Pharmaceuticals: -$1.93 billion (Up by 5.3%)
8. Copper: -$1.7 billion (Up by 20.4%)
9. Meat: -$1.6 billion (Up by 9.9%)
10. Mineral fuels including oil: -$1.5 billion (Reversing an $862.4 million surplus)

Malaysia has highly negative net exports and therefore international trade deficits for computer parts or accessories and turbo-jets under the machinery including computers product category.

These cashflow deficiencies clearly indicate Malaysia’s competitive disadvantages in the international vehicles market but also represent key opportunities for Malaysia to improve its position in the global economy through focused innovations.

Major Malaysian Export Companies

Seventeen Malaysian corporations rank among Forbes Global 2000. Below is a sample of the major Malaysian companies that Forbes included.

• Axiata (communications equipment)
• IOI Group (food processing)
• MISC (shipping company)
• Petronas Chemicals (specialized chemicals)
• Petronas Dagangan (oil, gas)
• Sime Darby (rubber, industrial/energy products)

Wikipedia lists some other large international trade players for Malaysia.

• Hup Chong Furniture SDN BHD (bedroom furniture, beddings, miscellaneous wooden furniture)
• Ly Furniture SDN BHD (furniture, furniture parts)
• POS Malaysia Berhad (paper bags, envelopes)
• R1 International Malaysia SDN BHD (latex, transmission belts, natural rubber in smoked sheets)

 

In macroeconomic terms, Malaysia’s total exported goods represent 24% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2024 ($1.373 trillion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 24% for exports to overall GDP per PPP in 2024 compares to 25.5% one year earlier. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Malaysia’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.

Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Malaysia’s unemployment rate averaged 3.525% for 2024, down from an average 3.625% jobless rate one year earlier according to International Monetary Fund statistics.

See also Malaysia’s Top 10 Imports, Malaysia’s Top Trading Partners and Malaysia’s Top 10 Major Export Companies

Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook, Country Profiles. Accessed on April 4, 2025

Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on April 4, 2025

International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Databases (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on April 4, 2025

International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on April 4, 2025

Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on April 4, 2025

Richest Country Reports, Key Statistics Powering Global Wealth. Accessed on December 17, 2024

Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on April 4, 2025

Wikipedia, List of Companies of Malaysia. Accessed on April 4, 2025

Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on April 4, 2025

X-rates.com, Exchange Rates: Malaysian Ringgit to US Dollar (monthly average 2024). Accessed on April 4, 2025