Handbook of Statistics 2019

The UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics 2019 provides a wide range of statistics and indicators relevant to the analysis of international trade, investment, maritime transport and development. Reliable statistical information is indispensable for formulating sound policies and recommendations that may commit countries for many years as they strive to integrate into the world economy and improve the living standards of their citizens. Whether for research, consultation or technical cooperation, UNCTAD needs reliable and internationally comparable trade, financial and macroeconomic data, covering several decades and for as many countries as possible.

This year’s edition incorporates several new charts and maps, and also includes for the first time new maritime statistics dealing with port performance: tables showing the number of port calls and the time spent by ships in port, sub-divided into eight market segments (see Maritime transport indicators page). This update also incorporates the latest population estimates from the United Nations World Population Prospects 2019 (including significant adjustments for Eritrea, Eswatini, Lebanon, Maldives, South Sudan, Venezuela and Zimbabwe). The urban and rural population estimates are based on the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects 2018.

Read more: https://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/tdstat44_en.pdf

Happy Chinese New Year!

Trade Info Vol. 2/2020

Imports of Oranges and Mandarins

2000 - November 2019 

Gong Xi Fa Chai❗️❗️

Dari kami warga Bahagian Perangkaan Perdagangan Antarabangsa kepada semua kaum Cina di seluruh negara. Kami harap anda gembira meraikan Tahun Baru Cina dengan keluarga dan rakan-rakan.

The Determinants of Exports between Malaysia and the OIC Member Countries: A Gravity Model Approach

In recent years, it is in the interest of the Malaysian government to expand its export market to the Middle Eastern countries. This can be seen in the economic blueprint of the New Economic Model (NEM) which was launched in March 2010, where a new strategy would be adopted to shift its trade dependency on the traditional markets and exploring new markets especially for exports. In the post September 11 terrorist attack that hit the U.S and in light with the on-going global economic and financial crises, a study of the Malaysia-OIC export linkages has become more relevant than ever. The focus of this research is to examine the impact of economic factors on bilateral exports between Malaysia and the OIC member countries. Using the panel estimation for gravity model, the data covers the period of 1997 to 2009.

In summary, for exports flows between Malaysia and the OIC countries, an analysis of the gravity model demonstrated that the major determinants are the size of the economies, level of openness of the economy, inflation and the exchange rates. Several policy implications can be drawn from the results of the gravity model. For one, it is vital for Malaysian policy makers to play an important role to exploit the vast market of the OIC region, such as focusing on the African region, accelerating the effort to establish the Islamic Common Market (ICM), liberalizing the economy further, and intensifying endeavours in curbing corrupt practices.

Read more: http://repo.uum.edu.my/24788/

Suggested by: Wan Aznie Fatihah Wan Abd Jalil (Statistician, DOSM)

Trade Openness in Malaysia: Evidence from Trade with ASEAN and Australasian Countries

There is a large literature that relates trade openness and economic growth. My literature survey suggests that Malaysia’s WTO accession, active participation in regional trading agreements, trade policy reform in agricultural and manufacturing sectors, government reforms encouraging economic competitiveness and lower trade cost are among the main reasons for explaining Malaysia trade performance and openness. Apart from the role that trade openness has played in Malaysia’s economy, this paper’s gravity model empirical regression results suggest that other factors such as distance, per capita income in Malaysia and its trading partner and exchange rate also explain significantly Malaysian trade performance with its regional counterparts, namely the major ASEAN and Australasian countries.

Read more: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317821949_Trade_Openness_in_Malaysia_Evidence_from_Trade_with_ASEAN_and_Australasian_Countries


Suggested by: Shamsuhasnizam Shamsudin (Statistician, DOSM)

Determinants of Export: Empirical Study in Malaysia

Download here: http://jibe-net.com/journals/jibe/Vol_4_No_1_June_2016/6.pdf

This research aims to study the relationship of export with four determinants, namely import, inflation, foreign direct investment (FDI), and exchange rate. Sample years are 1975 to 2013. Ordinary least square (OLS) is used. Results revealed that import has positive relationship with export. This implied that Malaysia import may be an “assembly point exporter”. Electric and electrical (E&E), which is Malaysia major export component has high possibly where inputs are imported, then assembly and exported. Foreign exchange rate (domestic currency in term of foreign) has positive relationship with export, thus validating Marshall Learner hypothesis. 

Inflation has negative relationship as higher aggregate price increase cost of production and decreasing price competitiveness of export. Foreign direct investment has an inverted-U curve relationship, which give further insight into conflicting evidence of linear relationship between export and FDI. Facilities provided to promote export may attract inflow of foreign investment. However, if FDI is targeted to produce for domestic market, it may not contribute to export growth.​

Suggested by: Nurul Ainie Hamid (Statistician, DOSM)

Measuring Globalization: Better Trade Statistics for Better Policy

Economic and trade liberalization in developing countries, coupled with technological advances that have greatly lowered trade and communication costs, have fueled an explosion in the volume of international trade since the 1990s. Trade liberalization and technological advances also have enabled a tremendous expansion in the types of international transactions, including trade in services and intangibles and the development of complex global supply chains. 

The accompanying expansion of multinational companies has blurred the boundaries of national economies, and the production of manufactured goods and some services increasingly has shifted to emerging economies. While international trade in goods and services has long been expanding, the speed and scope of recent changes have given rise to the term “globalization.” Among the most pressing policy questions in the United States and other advanced economies are those concerning the impact of globalization: Has globalization fostered productivity growth and well-being in advanced economies? Or have the forces of globalization weakened key national industries, resulted in widespread worker dislocation and wage stagnation, and worsened inequality? Understanding the impacts of globalization is critical to fashioning appropriate policies in a rapidly changing world. 

But understanding its impacts requires good data, and national statistical systems were not designed to measure many of the transactions occurring in today’s global economy. 

Want to know more? Click this link: http://research.upjohn.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1250&context=up_press


Suggested by: Jamaliah Jaafar (Statistician, DOSM)

Intra-Industry Trade in Malaysian Manufacturing Sector

Download Here: http://www.ukm.my/fep/perkem/pdf/perkemVIII/PKEM2013_1C2.pdf

As a result of rapid economic growth and increased influence of globalization in international trade activities, intra-industry trade (IIT) becomes prominent across Asia including Malaysia. Free trade agreements and creations of free trade areas have encourage increased cross border investments through production networking as well as fragmentation of production, especially in manufacturing sector. This paper attempts to examine trends and patterns of Malaysia’s IIT in manufacturing sector using the 9-digit Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) codes from 1990 - 2010. 

The IIT trends and patterns are investigated using the Grubel Lloyd (GL) Index adapted from Greenaway et. al (1995) and Fontagne and Freudenberg (1997). The result indicates that the trends and patterns of Malaysia’s manufacturing sector had gradually migrated from traditional inter-industry to intra-industry kind of trade. The average GL index of Malaysia’s manufacturing sector had been gradually increasing from a mere 0.27 in 1990 to 0.51 in 2007 before it slightly dropped to 0.46 in 2010. In terms of quality (high quality vertical IIT), the composition of Malaysia’s IIT in manufacturing sector had slightly increased from only 28.0% in 1990 to 31.5% in 2010 against other two types of IIT namely horizontal IIT and low quality IIT. 

Many factors contributed to changes in the trends and patterns in Malaysia’s IIT over the last 2 decades. Apart from import substitution and industrialization policies implemented by the government, increased international fragmentation of production, production networks, creation of ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and other regional trade agreements are the dominant factors that influenced IIT in Malaysia’s manufacturing activities.

Suggested by: Nor Afiqah Shaari (Statistician, DOSM)

Majlis Pelancaran Blog BPPA

Assalamualaikum w.b.t. dan Salam Sejahtera,

Sempena Tahun Baru 2020, YBhg. Dato' Sri Dr. Ketua Perangkawan Malaysia mengadakan Sesi Walkabout ke semua Bahagian di DOSM pada hari ini, 7 Januari 2020. Sesi Walkabout ke Aras 5 yang merangkumi Bahagian Perangkaan Perdagangan Antarabangsa, Bahagian Perangkaan Pengeluaran Industri dan Binaan dan Bahagian Perangkaan Pertanian dan Alam Sekitar dijadualkan pada jam 11.00 pagi.

Di samping itu, Bahagian Perangkaan Perdagangan Antarabangsa akan melancarkan Blog Rasmi Bahagian yang akan dirasmikan oleh YBhg. Dato' Sri Dr. Ketua Perangkawan semasa sesi walkabout ini berlangsung.



-Admin-

World Development Report 2020

Trading for Development in the Age of Global Value Chains

Download here: https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2020

Global value chains (GVCs) powered the surge of international trade after 1990 and now account for almost half of all trade. This shift enabled an unprecedented economic convergence: poor countries grew rapidly and began to catch up with richer countries. Since the 2008 global financial crisis, however, the growth of trade has been sluggish and the expansion of GVCs has stalled. Meanwhile, serious threats have emerged to the model of trade-led growth. New technologies could draw production closer to the consumer and reduce the demand for labor. And conflicts among large countries could lead to a retrenchment or a segmentation of GVCs. The World Development Report (WDR) 2020: Trading for Development in the Age of Global Value Chains examines whether there is still a path to development through GVCs and trade. It concludes that technological change is at this stage more a boon than a curse. GVCs can continue to boost growth, create better jobs, and reduce poverty provided that developing countries implement deeper reforms to promote GVC participation, industrial countries pursue open, predictable policies, and all countries revive multilateral cooperation.   

IMTS

International Merchandise Trade Statistics: Concepts and Definitions 2010

Download here: https://unstats.un.org/unsd/trade/eg-imts/IMTS2010-final-22March2011.pdf

The International Merchandise Trade Statistics: Concepts and Definitions 2010 (IMTS 2010) provides a comprehensive methodological framework for collection and compilation of international merchandise trade statistics in all countries, irrespective of the level of development of their statistical system.

The conceptual framework of IMTS 2010 reflects both the multipurpose nature of these statistics and concern for availability of the adequate data sources and data compilation procedures. IMTS 2010 follows an integrated approach to economic statistics including the use, as applicable, of common concepts, definitions, classifications and data compilation strategies.

It is intended primarily for the producers of international trade statistics; particularly the staff of national statistical offices and/or customs involved in the collection and compilation of merchandise trade statistics, but may be also useful to researchers and other users interested in better understanding the nature of trade statistics.

SITC

Standard International Trade Classification (SITC Rev. 4)

Download here: Standard International Trade Classification Revision 4

Go to start of metadata

Use of SITC for dissemination and analysis. The history of SITC is described in IMTS 2010 and is not reproduced here. It should be recalled, however, that in 1999, the Statistical Commission, at its thirteenth session, recognized that there would be a continuing need by users for international trade statistics analysed according to SITC, and IMTS 2010 (para. 3.19) recommended that, in addition to HS, countries use SITC for the dissemination and the analysis of trade statistics according to user requirements. The majority of countries and international organizations continue to use SITC for various purposes, such as market research and study of long-term trends in international merchandise trade. 

Classification criteria underlying the structure of SITC. While the fourth revision of SITC (SITC, Rev.4) is based on the HS07 classification, it retains the classification scheme of SITC, Rev.3, and classifies goods based on the following considerations:

(a)    Nature of the merchandise and the materials used in its production,;

(b)   Processing stage;

(c)    Market practices and the uses of the product;

(d)   Importance of the commodity in terms of world trade;

(e)    Technological changes. 

Development of SITC, Rev.4. SITC, Rev.4, which was prepared by the United Nations Statistics Division in cooperation with a number of interested international organizations, was issued in 2006. The scope of SITC, Rev.4, remains the same as that of SITC, Rev.3, that is, SITC, Rev.4, covers all goods classifiable by HS except for monetary gold, gold coin and current coin. All SITC, Rev.4 basic headings (except for 911.0 and 931.0) are defined in terms of HS07 subheadings. Since SITC is now recommended only for analytical purposes, there was no need, except in several special cases, to create new basic headings in SITC, Rev.4, that would be in one-to-one correspondence with the new HS07 subheadings. 

SITC, Rev.4, retains the overall structure of SITC, Rev.3, and consists of the same number of one-digit sections, two-digit divisions and three-digit groups. The changes made were at the level of basic headings and some subgroups. The classification contains 3,993 basic headings and subheadings, which are assembled in 262 groups, 67 divisions and 10 sections. The SITC sections are as follows:

0          Food and live animals

1          Beverages and tobacco

2          Crude materials, inedible, except fuels

3          Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials

4          Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes

5          Chemicals and related products, not elsewhere specified

6          Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material

7          Machinery and transport equipment

8          Miscellaneous manufactured articles

9          Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere in SITC

 The coverage of the individual sections in all revisions of SITC is very similar, so that historical series of data are largely comparable at this level of aggregation. The historical comparability is also preserved for numerous series at the more detailed levels of the classification. 

National practices in use of SITC. According to a survey conducted by UNSD in 2006, SITC remains an important analytical and dissemination tool for most countries, especially developed ones (82 per cent of developed countries and 56 per cent of developing countries use it). Many developing countries prefer to use the HS for dissemination, as this reduces their data-processing and data dissemination burden. However, the dissemination of trade data in terms of SITC by all countries is seen as a good practice, which provides both national and international users with data of high analytical value. The conversion of the data compiled in terms of HS into SITC commodity groupings requires minimal resources if it is conducted electronically using appropriate conversion tables. Currently, UNSD converts all HS data into SITC data and may assist interested developing countries in setting up the conversion procedures. 

International practices in use of SITC. SITC is widely used in international databases, and trade data expressed in terms of SITC are in great demand by research institutions, as the SITC commodity aggregates are more suitable for analytical purposes and their time series are available starting from the 1950s. The UN Comtrade database stores SITC time series starting from 1962, and major international organizations like the World Trade Organization (WTO), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Bank publish SITC trade data and use them for analytical purposes. For example, UNCTAD has defined product groups based on SITC, Rev.3, for research and analysis purposes.

https://unstats.un.org/wiki/display/I2CG/A.++Standard+International+Trade+Classification%2C+Revision+4

Global Trade

WHAT IS TRADE?

According to Wikipedia, “trade involves the transfer of goods or services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money”. When talking about “global trade” or “international trade”, we refer to trade where the seller and the buyer are in two different countries. In the current article we refer to trade in goods (i.e. physical products), not in services.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GLOBAL TRADE AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE?

We consider the two terms as synonyms. Global trade is trade between countries (i.e. international) without limiting the scope to specific countries. Thus global trade, or international trade, covers all trade where buyer and seller are in two separate countries.

DOES TRADE NECESSARILY REQUIRE A SALES TRANSACTION?

Not necessarily, but it is mostly the case. In most cases trade follows a sales of products, where the buyer and seller are located in two separate countries. But some exceptions exist, e.g.:

1.     Goods are moved for exhibition purposes, and then returned to their home base.

2.     Personal belongings are shipped when a person moves from to another country.

3.     Companies shift stocks between different locations in different countries.

WHO BENEFITS FROM GLOBAL TRADE? HOW CAN INTERNATIONAL TRADE AFFECT THE ECONOMY?

Trade provides direct and indirect benefits, on the micro level and macro level. When a company can export its products to foreign countries, it has a bigger potential market. Consequently, it can produce more, sell more, earn more money and deliver more profits to its owners (direct benefits). At the same time, the ability to sell more results in a need to employ more staff across all job roles (production, finance, sales, HR, …). This provides jobs and reduces unemployment, thus offering indirect benefits to society. Similarly, the company will be paying more taxes (as its profits increase), and the local government will have to pay fewer unemployment benefits (because fewer people will be unemployed). These are indirect benefits for society. When many companies benefit from exports, and the indirect benefits of export accumulate, we talk about “economic development”, or “economic growth”. In places where there are severe poverty and political unrest, such economic growth may result in avoiding conflicts, even armed conflicts. And hence it can save lives and contribute to a better world.

Import has its benefits too. First, it gives citizens access to products that they would otherwise not have. Second, it allows companies to produce products even if they do not have all the necessary components or raw materials (by importing them). When goods are imported, often taxes and import duties are collected, and hence imports contribute to the income of Government. These tax incomes are subsequently used by the Government to invest in social programs, in infrastructure and more. These are indirect benefits for society.

Research Poster

• Malaysia's Merchandise Trade: The Electrical and Electronics Products' Contribution to Malaysia's Exports in the Past 40 Years.

• Relationship of Inflation with Imports and Exports in Malaysia

• Asymmetries in International Merchandise Trade Statistics: A Case Study of Malaysia and China

• Malaysia's Merchandise Trade: Changes in Import and Export Composition in the Past 45 Years

Frequently Asked Question

Concepts and Definition in Compiling Trade Statistics

What do total imports mean?

Goods are regarded as imports when they are brought into the country either directly or into bonded warehouses, irrespective of whether such goods are for consumption, to be processed, use in manufacturing or subsequent re-exports to other countries.

What do total exports mean?

Total exports include all goods leaving the country through customs for a foreign destination. It consists of the sum of domestic exports and re-exports.

Total Exports = Domestic Exports + Re-exports

What do domestic exports mean?

Domestic exports consist of the exports of all goods grown, produced, extracted or manufactured in Malaysia leaving the country through customs for a foreign destination.

Exports of imported merchandise which has been substantially enhanced in value are also included.

What do re-exports mean?

Re-exports “foreign exports in Malaysia” refer to the export of goods that have previously entered Malaysia and are leaving in the same condition as when first imported.

Exports of imported merchandise which has been minimally processed but not substantially enhanced in value are also counted as re-exports.

What does trade balance mean?

The trade balance represents the difference between exports and imports of goods between the trader and one or more of its international trading partners.

Trade Balance = Total Exports – Total Imports

Trade deficit – The trade balance is negative if the trader imports more goods than it exports.

Trade surplus – The trade balance is positive if the trader exports more goods than it imports.

What is the Harmonized System (HS)?

The Harmonized System (HS) is an international commodity classification developed under the auspices of the World Customs Organization, an independent intergovernmental body.

The HS is used by more than 200 countries and economies as a basis for their customs tariffs and for the collection of international trade statistics. Over 98 percent of the merchandise in international trade is classified in terms of the HS. Logical structure and is supported by well-defined rules to achieve uniform classification.

Can I find statistics relating to quantities of goods traded?

No statistics are available with regards to the quantities of goods traded.

In the case of trade by industry, this is simply not possible because of the mix of units (e.g. numbers, kilograms, liters, square meters and so on).

What is the country of origin?

The country or origin is the country in which the goods were grown, extracted or manufactured.

What is the country of destination?

The country of destination is the country which is the last known destination of the goods at the time of export.

If the shipper does not know the country of ultimate destination, the shipment is credited to the last country to which the shipper knows that the merchandise will be shipped in the same form as when exported.

What does trader mean?

The trader is the country that records imported goods coming in or exported goods leaving through customs.

Infographics 2019

Latest Release: November 2019

Malaysia External Trade Statistics

KEY FACTS 

Malaysia’s exports in November 2019, decreased 5.5% to RM80.8 billion year-on-year (y-o-y). Re-exports was valued at RM13.0 billion registering a decline of 18.4% y-o-y and accounted for 16.1% of total exports. Domestic exports also recorded a decrease of 2.6% or RM1.8 billion to RM67.8 billion. 

Imports also slipped 3.6% y-o-y to RM74.3 billion. 

On a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis, exports declined 10.8% from RM90.6 billion. In seasonally adjusted terms, exports also decreased 11.2%. 

On a m-o-m basis, imports increased 1.4% or RM993.1 million from RM73.3 billion. In seasonally adjusted terms, imports increased 4.8%. 

On a y-o-y basis, exports fell due to the decrease in exports to Singapore (-RM1.6 billion), Hong Kong (-RM1.3 billion),Japan (RM959.4 million), Thailand (-RM699.1 million) and Republic of Korea (-RM633.5 million). However, exports increased to China (+RM495.6 million) and the United States (+RM479.1 million). 

On a y-o-y basis, lower imports were mainly from the European Union (-RM1.1 billion), Saudi Arabia (-RM1.0 billion), Singapore(RM834.6 million), Taiwan (-RM602.3 million), Thailand (-RM587.6 million) and Indonesia (-RM586.8 million). Meanwhile, higher imports were from China (+RM1.7 billion) and United Arab Emirates (+RM1.1 billion).

TRADE

Total trade amounted at RM155.1 billion, a contraction of 4.6% or RM7.5 billion in November 2019. It also posted a decline of RM8.8 billion (-5.4%) when compared to October 2019. The trade surplus which was valued at RM6.5 billion, shrank RM2.0 billion (-23.1%) from a year ago. 

It also registered a decrease of RM10.8 billion or 62.3% as compared to the previous monthTotal trade amounted at RM155.1 billion, a contraction of 4.6% or RM7.5 billion in November 2019. It also posted a decline of RM8.8 billion (-5.4%) when compared to October 2019. 

The trade surplus which was valued at RM6.5 billion, shrank RM2.0 billion (-23.1%) from a year ago. It also registered a decrease of RM10.8 billion or 62.3% as compared to the previous month. 

External Trade Indices 

Exports 

On a month-on-month basis, in November 2019, the export unit value index recorded a drop of 0.5% to 115.5 points which was mainly attributed to the decrease in the index of mineral fuels (-2.6%), inedible crude materials (-0.8%) and machinery & transport equipment (-0.3%). Meanwhile, the export volume index recorded a decline of 10.3% to 131.4 points. The decline was led by the decrease in the index of machinery & transport equipment (-22.9%), inedible crude materials (-12.9%) and animal & vegetable oils & fats (-5.0%). In seasonally adjusted terms, the export volume index fell 9.9% to 126.9 points. 

When compared to the previous year, both export unit value and volume indices declined 0.6% and 5.0% respectively. 

Imports 

In November 2019, the import unit value index declined marginally by 0.1% to 117.2 points as compared to the previous month, which was due to the drop in the index of inedible crude materials (-0.4%) followed by machinery & transport equipment (-0.2%) and chemicals (-0.2%). In contrast, the import volume index increased 1.4% to 144.0 points. The increase was mainly contributed by the growth in the index of mineral fuels (+12.3%), miscellaneous manufactured articles (+9.6%) and chemicals (+3.9%). In seasonally adjusted terms, the import volume index in November 2019 registered a growth of 2.8% to 140.7 points. 

On a year-on-year basis, both import unit value and volume indices shrank 2.3% and 1.4% respectively. 

Terms of trade 

Malaysia’s terms of trade fell 0.5% to 98.6 points when compared with October 2019. On a year-on-year basis, Malaysia’s terms of trade registered a rise of 1.8% from 96.9 points. 

Welcome to BPPA's blog

International Trade Statistics Division is one of the six Divisions under the Economic Programme, Department of Statistics, Malaysia.

FUNCTION:

BPPA is responsible for compiling Malaysia's External Trade Statistics (METS):

• To generate monthly and annual external trade statistics;
• To generate monthly external trade indices;
• To provide export statistics by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Bio-tech industry and halal products;
• To provide external trade statistics for regular and ad-hoc customers; and
• To provides data for internal use of other Divisions of the Department of Statistics Malaysia.

OBJECTIVE OF METS COMPILATION:

• To provide information on the Malaysia trade performance in comparison to other countries in the world in terms of quantity, value and average unit value of goods. This information is a tool to assist governments in formulating policies and monitoring economic performance as well as for national development planning. In addition, the compilation of METS is also important as inputs in the compilation of GDP, Balance of Payment and Import & Export Indices.