Brunei Darussalam's total trade in May 2022 was valued at 2,846.3 million dollars, an increase by 48.7 per cent from the same month in 2021. The Department of Economic Planning and Statistics, Ministry of Finance and Economy in its press release stated that for month-to-month changes, total trade for May 2022 decreased by 5.7 per cent compared to April 2022.
Total exports increased by 51.9 per cent in May 2022 compared to May 2021. This was mainly due to the increase in Mineral Fuels and Chemicals exports. The rise in Mineral Fuels exports was mainly driven by higher export value of Crude oil and Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG following rising average price, as well as Petroleum Products. In terms of export commodity, Mineral Fuels represents the major contributor to the country's exports, followed by Chemicals, and Machinery and Transport Equipment.
The main exports market in May 2022 was Australia, followed by the People's Republic of China, and Singapore. The largest export commodity to Australia and Singapore was Mineral Fuels, meanwhile, to People's Republic of China was Chemicals.
For imports, the total value increased following significant increase in imports of Mineral Fuels. The five main imports by commodity were Mineral Fuels, followed by Machinery and Transport Equipment, Chemicals, Crude Materials, Inedible and Foods. For imports by trading partners, the highest share was from Malaysia, respectively followed by Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia, with Mineral Fuels as the largest import commodity. According to the mode of transport for May 2022, the highest share for both exports and imports was transport by sea, followed by air transport and via land.
The International Merchandise Trade Statistics report for May 2022 is available at 'deps.mofe.gov.bn'.
Source: Radio Television Brunei