Merchandise exports growth soars in April

Latest reading: Merchandise exports jumped 25.7% on an annual basis in April (March: +13.6% year-on-year). April’s figure marked the strongest growth since August 2022. The spike was largely due to shipment frontloading ahead of expected tariff increases in July and should give exports only a temporary boost. Meanwhile, merchandise imports climbed 29.6% on an annual basis in April (March: +3.3% yoy), marking the strongest result since August 2024. The merchandise trade balance deteriorated from the previous month, recording a USD 1.2 billion surplus in April (March 2025: USD 5.6 billion surplus; April 2024: USD 1.6 billion surplus). Lastly, the trend deteriorated, with the 12-month trailing merchandise trade balance recording a USD 31.6 billion surplus in April, compared to the USD 32.1 billion surplus in March.

How should you choose a forecaster if some are too optimistic while others are too pessimistic? FocusEconomics collects Malaysian merchandise exports projections for the next ten years from a panel of 5 analysts at the leading national, regional and global forecast institutions. These projections are then validated by our in-house team of economists and data analysts and averaged to provide one Consensus Forecast you can rely on for each indicator. By averaging all forecasts, upside and downside forecasting errors tend to cancel each other out, leading to the most reliable merchandise exports forecast available for Malaysian merchandise exports.

Download one of our sample reports to visualize what a Consensus Forecast is and see our Malaysian merchandise exports projections.

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