KUALA LUMPUR, June 22 — Malaysia’s total trade in services accounted for RM336.9 billion in 2022, contributing 18.8 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP at current prices), said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

Deficit in services trade narrowed to RM56.4 billion as against the previous year supported by the resilient performance of travel, DOSM said in its Statistics of International Trade in Services 2022 report today.

"The lower deficit in services trade as compared to the previous year was still higher than the pre-pandemic level of RM10.9 billion in 2019.

"Exports of services grew faster than imports in 2022, from RM88.1 billion in the previous year to RM140.3 billion,” it said.

Meanwhile, imports of services rose to RM196.7 billion in 2022 from RM153.7 billion.

"Travel, which served as the cornerstone of Malaysia’s services sector before the pandemic, rebounded in 2022 by playing a vital role in driving the country’s trade in services performance.

"Exports of this component exhibited favourable signs of recovery registering RM28.4 billion, a significant increase from RM0.3 billion in the previous year,” said DOSM.

Similarly, imports of travel also showed an upward trend, reaching RM29.5 billion from RM15.2 billion in the previous year.

However, despite the positive growth, the value of exports and imports remains considerably lower than the pre-pandemic peak of RM82.1 billion and RM51.3 billion in 2019.

"As the growth of exports was faster than imports, travel improved to record a lower deficit of RM1.2 billion from RM14.9 billion in 2021,” it added.

The report also said that the manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others component contributed to the narrowing deficit in services trade.

This component achieved a surplus of RM16.3 billion, marking the highest surplus recorded in the past 10 years.

Exports of this component valued at RM20.1 billion, while imports stood at RM3.9 billion.

Meanwhile, DOSM said the United States emerged as the leading destination for Malaysia’s services trade in 2022.

"Exports to the US valued at RM36.7 billion and imports stood at RM56.6 billion, with a 34.9 per cent and 55.8 per cent year-on-year increases, respectively,” it said. — Bernama