| Introduction - Malaysia: |
| Location - Malaysia: |
| People - Malaysia: |
| Government - Malaysia: |
| Economy - Malaysia: |
Economy overview | Malaysia, a middle-income country, transformed itself from 1971 through the late 1990s from a producer of raw materials into an emerging multi-sector economy. Growth was almost exclusively driven by exports - particularly of electronics. As a result, Malaysia was hard hit by the global economic downturn and the slump in the information technology (IT) sector in 2001 and 2002. The economy grew 4.9% in 2003, notwithstanding a difficult first half, when external pressures from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the Iraq War led to caution in the business community. Growth topped 7% in 2004 and 5% per year in 2005-06. As an oil and gas exporter, Malaysia has profited from higher world energy prices, although the rising cost of domestic gasoline and diesel fuel forced Kuala Lumpur to reduce government subsidies, contributing to higher inflation. Malaysia unpegged the ringgit from the US dollar in 2005 and the currency appreciated 6% against the dollar in 2006. Healthy foreign exchange reserves and a small external debt greatly reduce the risk that Malaysia will experience a financial crisis over the near term similar to the one in 1997. The economy remains dependent on continued growth in the US, China, and Japan - top export destinations and key sources of foreign investment. The government presented its five-year national development agenda in April 2006 through the Ninth Malaysia Plan, a comprehensive blueprint for the allocation of the national budget from 2006-10. The plan targets the development of higher value-added manufacturing and an expansion of the services sector. |
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Gdp purchasing power parity | $313.8 billion (2006 est.) |
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Gdp official exchange rate | $132.3 billion (2006 est.) |
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Gdp real growth rate | 5.9% (2006 est.) |
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Gdp per capita ppp | $12,900 (2006 est.) |
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Gdp composition by sector | agriculture: 8.3%
industry: 48.1%
services: 43.6% (2006 est.) |
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Labor force | 10.73 million (2006 est.) |
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Labor force by occupation | agriculture: 13%
industry: 36%
services: 51% (2005 est.) |
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Unemployment rate | 3.5% (2006 est.) |
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Population below poverty line | 5.1% (2002 est.) |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1.4%
highest 10%: 39.2% (2003 est.) |
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Distribution of family income gini index | 46.1 (2002) |
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Inflation rate consumer prices | 3.8% (2006 est.) |
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Investment gross fixed | 19.9% of GDP (2006 est.) |
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Budget | revenues: $31.63 billion
expenditures: $37 billion; including capital expenditures of $9.4 billion (2006 est.) |
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Public debt | 46.7% of GDP (2006 est.) |
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Agriculture products | Peninsular Malaysia - rubber, palm oil, cocoa, rice; Sabah - subsistence crops, rubber, timber, coconuts, rice; Sarawak - rubber, pepper, timber |
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Industries | Peninsular Malaysia - rubber and oil palm processing and manufacturing, light manufacturing, electronics, tin mining and smelting, logging, timber processing; Sabah - logging, petroleum production; Sarawak - agriculture processing, petroleum production and refining, logging |
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Industrial production growth rate | 5.8% (2006 est.) |
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Electricity production | 78.24 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity consumption | 72.71 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity exports | 50 million kWh (2004) |
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Electricity imports | 0 kWh (2004) |
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Oil production | 770,000 bbl/day (2005 est.) |
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Oil consumption | 515,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
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Oil exports | 611,200 bbl/day (2004) |
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Oil imports | NA bbl/day |
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Oil proved reserves | 3.1 billion bbl (2006 est.) |
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Natural gas production | 62.43 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
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Natural gas consumption | 32.97 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
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Natural gas exports | 29.46 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
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Natural gas imports | 0 cu m (2004 est.) |
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Natural gas proved reserves | 2.124 trillion cu m (1 January 2005 est.) |
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Current account balance | $17.86 billion (2006 est.) |
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Exports | $158.7 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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Exports commodities | electronic equipment, petroleum and liquefied natural gas, wood and wood products, palm oil, rubber, textiles, chemicals |
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Exports partners | US 18.8%, Singapore 15.4%, Japan 8.9%, China 7.2%, Thailand 5.3%, Hong Kong 4.9% (2006) |
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Imports | $127.3 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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Imports commodities | electronics, machinery, petroleum products, plastics, vehicles, iron and steel products, chemicals |
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Imports partners | Japan 13.3%, US 12.6%, China 12.2%, Singapore 11.7%, Thailand 5.5%, Taiwan 5.5%, South Korea 5.4%, Germany 4.4% (2006) |
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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold | $82.3 billion (2006 est.) |
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Debt external | $57.77 billion (30 June 2006 est.) |
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Currency code | ringgit (MYR) |
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Exchange rates | ringgits per US dollar - 3.6683 (2006), 3.8 (2005), 3.8 (2004), 3.8 (2003), 3.8 (2002) |
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| Communications - Malaysia: |
| Transportation - Malaysia: |
| Military - Malaysia: |
This page was last updated on 16 September, 2007
