Export and import prices increased by 0.1% and 0.3%, mainly driven by mineral fuels.
Malaysia’s export prices recorded a slight increase of 0.1 per cent in February 2025, rising from 151.2 points in the previous month to 151.4 points. Reflecting similar growth, the import unit value index also rose by 0.3 per cent, moving from 127.7 to 128.1 points. However, Malaysia’s terms of trade experienced a minor decline of 0.2 per cent month-on-month, settling at 118.2 points in February 2025. This update was reported in the External Trade Indices (2010=100) for February 2025, which outlines the unit value index, volume index, and terms of trade for ten merchandise product sections in accordance with the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC).
Chief Statistician Malaysia, Dato’ Sri Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin, stated that the export unit value index increased by 0.1 per cent compared to January 2025. This growth was largely driven by higher prices in mineral fuels, which rose by 2.5 per cent, food by 0.7 per cent, and miscellaneous manufactured articles by 0.6 per cent. Despite the rise in export prices, the export volume index declined by 3.8 per cent, mainly due to significant decreases in mineral fuels at 12.4 per cent, animal and vegetable oils and fats at 5.0 per cent, and machinery and transport equipment at 4.7 per cent. Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted export volume index showed a positive movement, increasing by 2.3 per cent from 159.2 to 162.8 points. On a year-on-year basis, both the export unit value index and volume index rose by 2.8 per cent and 3.3 per cent, respectively.
For imports, the 0.3 per cent increase in the unit value index in February 2025 was mainly attributed to the upward trends in the indices of mineral fuels by 2.0 per cent, miscellaneous manufactured articles by 0.4 per cent, and food by 0.1 per cent. However, the import volume index dropped sharply by 11.6 per cent compared to the previous month. This decline was primarily caused by reductions in the indices of manufactured goods at 17.9 per cent, machinery and transport equipment at 15.9 per cent, and miscellaneous manufactured articles at 11.4 per cent. The seasonally adjusted import volume index also recorded a decrease of 2.0 per cent, falling from 212.9 to 208.7 points. In contrast, a year-on-year comparison showed that the unit value index fell by 1.4 per cent, while the volume index increased by 7.0 per cent.
Malaysia’s terms of trade decreased by 0.2 per cent in February 2025 compared to the previous month, due to a decline in the indices of animal and vegetable oils and fats by 2.0 per cent, machinery and transport equipment by 0.5 per cent, and manufactured goods by 0.1 per cent. Nevertheless, on a year-on-year basis, the terms of trade improved by 4.2 per cent, rising from 113.4 points in February of the previous year to 118.2 points.
In addition, Malaysia will be chairing the 15th ASEAN Community Statistical System Committee (ACSS15) in 2025, reinforcing efforts to enhance statistical cooperation in support of sustainable regional development. The Government of Malaysia has also designated October 20th as National Statistics Day, celebrated under the theme “Statistics is the Essence of Life.” Furthermore, the Fourth World Statistics Day will be observed globally on October 20, 2025, with the theme “Driving Change with Quality Statistics and Data for Everyone.”
To support public access to data and promote statistical literacy, the Department of Statistics Malaysia has introduced OpenDOSM NextGen, a platform offering data catalogues and visualisations, accessible at https://open.dosm.gov.my.
