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The total trade year-on-year recorded a decrease of 1.8 per cent from BND2,513.8 million in December 2021 to BND2,468.6 million in December 2022. This decrease was due to a decline in import value by 11.0 per cent from BND1,016.6 million to BND904.6 million, mainly due to a decrease in imports of Mineral Fuels particularly crude oil as a production input for the downstream petrochemical industry.

Meanwhile, total exports increased by 4.5 per cent year-on-year from BND1,497.2 million in December 2021 to BND1,564.0 million in December 2022. This was mainly due to the increase in Mineral Fuels exports from BND1,226.1 million to BND1,308.0 million in the same period.

The increase in Mineral Fuels exports was mainly due to the higher export value of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Petroleum Products. The increase in exports of LNG was mainly due to a rise in its exports price by 43.3 per cent from USD11.17 per MMBtu to USD16.00 per MMBtu. In addition, Petroleum Products exports, recorded an increase from BND521.5 million to BND588.2 million, in which the main commodity was automotive diesel fuels.

In terms of commodity, Mineral Fuels represented the major contributor to Brunei Darussalam’s exports at 83.6 per cent, followed by Chemicals (14.4 per cent), and Machinery and Transport Equipment (0.7 per cent). 

The five main imports by commodity for December 2022 were Mineral Fuels (63.6 per cent), followed by Machinery and Transport Equipment at (10.4 per cent), Chemicals (8.0 per cent), Food (6.9 per cent), and Manufactured Goods (6.2 per cent).

The main exports market in December 2022 was Japan (30.0 per cent), followed by Australia (22.3 per cent), and Singapore (13.6 per cent). The largest export commodity to Japan, Australia and Singapore was Mineral Fuels. 

The biggest import partner were Malaysia (22.7 per cent), followed by People’s Republic of China (17.3 per cent) and United Arab Emirates (14.5 per cent), with Mineral Fuels as the largest import commodity. 

Most of the country's imports at 61.2 per cent were used as Intermediate Goods for processing, followed by Capital Goods (35.2 per cent) for business operations and Consumption Goods (3.6 per cent) for household use. 

In terms of month-on-month changes, compared to November 2022, total trade fell by 13.6 per cent due to a decrease in both exports and imports value. 

The month-to-month decrease in export value is mainly due to a decrease in Chemicals exports from the downstream petrochemical industry. Meanwhile, the decline in Mineral Fuels imports mainly contributed to the decreased value of imports. 

Transport by sea accounted for the highest share for both exports and imports, which amounted to BND2,357.5 million or 95.5 per cent. This was followed by air transport (BND81.1 million or 3.3 per cent) and via land (BND30.0 million or 1.2 per cent). 

For the whole year 2022, the total trade was valued at BND32,198.5 million, an increase by 35.0 per cent compared to BND23,855.5 million in 2021. 

Trade balance increased to BND6,432.9 million compared to BND4,412.1 million in 2021, which is an increase of 45.8 percent year-on-year. The increase in trade balance is due to a higher increase in total exports by 36.7 per cent to BND19,315.7 million compared to BND14,133.8 million in 2021, although the total imports also increased by 32.5 per cent from BND9,721.7 million (2021) to BND12,882.8 million in 2022. The increases in both total exports and imports were mainly due to an increase in Mineral Fuels. 

The International Merchandise Trade Statistics report for December 2022 can be accessed through the DEPS’s website at https://deps.mofe.gov.bn.

Full Report: ​International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS) Full Reports Dec_2022.pdf​