Malaysia Economy 2007

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.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$313.2 billion (2006 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$132.3 billion (2006 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
5.9% (2006 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$12,800 (2006 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 8.8%
industry: 47.1%
services: 44.1% (2006 est.)

Labor force:
10.68 million (2006 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 13%
industry: 36%
services: 51% (2005 est.)

Unemployment rate:
3.5% (2006 est.)

Population below poverty line:
5.1% (2002 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.4%
highest 10%: 39.2% (2003 est.)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
46.1 (2002)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.6% (2006 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
20.9% of GDP (2006 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $33.68 billion
expenditures: $38.89 billion (2006 est.)

Public debt:
42.3% of GDP (2006 est.)

Agriculture - products:
Peninsular Malaysia - rubber, palm oil, cocoa, rice; Sabah - subsistence crops, rubber, timber, coconuts, rice; Sarawak - rubber, pepper, timber

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

Industrial production growth rate:
5.8% (2006 est.)

Electricity - production:
82.36 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - consumption:
78.72 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2005)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2005)

Oil - production:
770,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - consumption:
515,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - exports:
611,200 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - imports:
NA bbl/day

Oil - proved reserves:
3.1 billion bbl (1 January 2006)

Natural gas - production:
60.9 billion cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
31.84 billion cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - exports:
29.06 billion cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2005)

Natural gas - proved reserves:
2.037 trillion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current account balance:
$25.56 billion (2006 est.)

Exports:
$160.8 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

Exports - commodities:
electronic equipment, petroleum and liquefied natural gas, wood and wood products, palm oil, rubber, textiles, chemicals

Exports - partners:
US 18.8%, Singapore 15.4%, Japan 8.9%, China 7.2%, Thailand 5.3%, Hong Kong 4.9% (2006)

Imports:
$124 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

Imports - commodities:
electronics, machinery, petroleum products, plastics, vehicles, iron and steel products, chemicals

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)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$82.2 billion (2006 est.)

Debt - external:
$50.47 billion (2006 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$77.7 billion (2006 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$34.42 billion (2006 est.)

Market value of publicly traded shares:
$235.4 billion (2006)

Currency (code):
ringgit (MYR)

Exchange rates:
ringgits per US dollar - 3.6683 (2006), 3.8 (2005), 3.8 (2004), 3.8 (2003), 3.8 (2002)