KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's exports were lower by 18.6 percent to 115.16 billion ringgit (24.54 billion U.S. dollars) in August on slower global demand and lower commodity prices, official data showed Tuesday.

Exports of manufactured goods which accounted for 85.4 percent of total exports dropped by 17.7 percent year on year following reduced demand for electrical and electronic products, petroleum products as well as palm oil-based manufactured products, the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) said in a statement.

Exports of mining goods (7.3 percent share) were lower by 23.1 percent year on year to 8.46 billion ringgit due to reduced exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude petroleum.

Exports of agriculture goods (6.6 percent share) decreased by 27.1 percent to 7.61 billion ringgit compared to August 2022, owing to slower exports of palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products that were affected significantly by weaker export prices of palm oil.

Malaysia's total trade for the month decreased by 19.8 percent to 213.01 billion ringgit, while its imports also edged down by 21.2 percent to 97.85 billion ringgit in August.

For the January-August period, Malaysia's trade reduced by 8.1 percent to 1.72 trillion ringgit compared to the same period of last year.

Its exports for the period shrank by 7.6 percent to 935.22 billion ringgit, and imports slipped by 8.6 percent to 782.29 billion ringgit.

Malaysia's trade surplus for the period also fell by 2 percent to 152.92 billion ringgit. (1 ringgit equals 0.21 U.S. dollar)