KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's exports declined by 4.4 percent year on year to 126.19 billion ringgit (about 27 billion U.S. dollars) in October, official data showed Monday.
The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) said in a statement that exports of manufactured goods, constituting 85.3 percent of total exports, slipped by 3.5 percent year on year as a result of lower demand for petroleum products and electrical and electronic (E&E) products.
Meanwhile, exports of mining goods dipped by 21.9 percent year on year, attributed to lesser exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude petroleum.
Exports of agricultural goods, however, improved by 3.3 percent, marking its first positive growth after 12 consecutive months of decline.
According to the ministry, Malaysia's trade decreased by 2.4 percent year on year to 239.52 billion ringgit in October.
Malaysia's imports for the month also slipped 0.2 percent year on year to 113.3 billion ringgit.
For the January-October period, Malaysia's trade slid 8 percent year on year to 2.18 trillion ringgit, with exports falling 8 percent to 1.19 trillion ringgit, while its imports declined by 8 percent to 995.55 billion ringgit. (1 ringgit equals 0.21 U.S. dollars) ■
