Economy of Sarawak

Economy of Sarawak
Kuching, the financial centre of Sarawak
CurrencyMalaysian ringgit (MYR)
Calendar year[1]
Statistics
Population2.56 million (2020)[2]
GDPIncreaseRM 140,200 million (nominal, 2022)[3]
GDP rank4th out of 15 states in Malaysia (including two federal territories)[3]
GDP growth
Increase6.5% (2022)[3]
GDP per capita
IncreaseRM 80,857 (2022)[3]
GDP per capita rank
3rd out of 15 states in Malaysia (including two federal territories)[4]
GDP by sector
  • Services: 36.2%
  • Manufacturing: 26.3%
  • Mining and quarrying: 22.2%
  • Agriculture: 11.7%
  • Construction: 3.2%
  • (2020)[4]
1.9% (first quarter of 2022)[5]
Population below poverty line
  • Absolute poverty: 9.0% (poverty line income of RM 2,131/month)
  • Relative poverty: 15.2% (cutoff value RM 2,272/month)
  • (2019)[6]
0.387 (2019)[6]
0.737 (2021)[7]
Labour force
Labour force by occupation
  • Agriculture, forestry, fishing (20.1%)
  • Wholesale and retail trade (13.8%)
  • Manufacturing (10.8%)
  • Construction (9.2%)
  • Hotel and food services (8.3%)
  • (2020)[9]
Unemployment3.3% (second quarter of 2022)[8]
External
ExportsRM 100,591 million (2019)[10]
Export goods
  • Fossil fuels and lubricants (61.6%)
  • Manufactured goods (13.7%)
  • Animal, vegetable oils, fats (10.0%)
  • Machinery and transport equipment (9.1%)
  • Crude materials (2.2%)
  • (2020)[10]
Main export partners
  • Japan (25.8%)
  • Peninsular Malaysia (15.7%)
  • Peoples' Republic of China (11.3%)
  • Republic of Korea (7.3%)
  • Republic of China (Taiwan) (7.2%)
  • (2018)[11]
ImportsRM 41,120 million (2020)[12]
Import goods
  • Machinery and transport equipment (32.9%)
  • Chemicals (16.7%)
  • Manufactured goods (14.0%)
  • Food (12.5%)
  • Crude materials (9.0%)
  • (2020)[12]
Main import partners
  • Peninsular Malaysia (46.7%)
  • Peoples' Republic of China (14.3%)
  • Australia (5.2%)
  • Japan (4.4%)
  • Indonesia (3.8%)
  • (2018)[11]
FDI stock
RM 28.2 billion (2022)[13]
Public finances
RevenuesRM 13.3 billion (2023)[14]
ExpensesRM 11.5 billion (2023)[15]
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.


The economy of Sarawak is the fourth-largest of the states of Malaysia, making up 9.3% of the Malaysian gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022.[3] Meanwhile, Sarawak is home to 7.9% of the Malaysian population (2.56 million out of 32.4 million people in Malaysia) based on the 2020 census.[2][18]

Sarawak economy has traditionally heavily depended on natural resource extraction and exports, including oil and gas, timber and palm oil. These commodities still produce a significant proportion of Sarawak's gross domestic product.[19] Main trade partners of Sarawak are: Peninsular Malaysia, China, and Japan.[11]

  1. ^ Ten, Marilyn (27 May 2022). "Sarawak's financial accounts accorded clean certificate for 19 consecutive years". The Borneo Post. Archived from the original on 23 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b How Pim, Lim (16 June 2022). "Sarawak's population rises to over 2.56 mln in 2020". The Borneo Post. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference Stats 2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Sarawak 2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Ten, Marilyn (26 May 2022). "Deputy Premier: Sarawak's economy expected to grow up to 6 pct this year". The Borneo Post. Archived from the original on 15 June 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  6. ^ a b "Household income and basic amenities survey report by state and administrative district" (PDF). Department of Statistics, Malaysia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Subnational HDI (v5.0) - Malaysia". Global Data Lab. Archived from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Unemployment rate stabilises in Q2 22". New Sarawak Tribune. 21 November 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  9. ^ "Employment by Industry". Sarawak Data. Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  10. ^ a b "Sarawak Exports By Commodity Sections_2020p". Sarawak Data - State Planning Unit. Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  11. ^ a b c Tuah, Yvonne (29 September 2019). "Enhancing access to Sarawak's trade". The Borneo Post. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  12. ^ a b "Sarawak Import By Commodity Section_December 2020". Sarawak Data - State Planing Unit. Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  13. ^ "Malaysia attracted RM264.6b approved investments in 2022". The Malaysian Reserve. 8 March 2023. Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  14. ^ "Abang Johari: Sarawak revenue for 2023 hits RM13.3 bln". The Borneo Post. 12 January 2024. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  15. ^ "Premier unveils largest Sarawak Budget of RM12.363 bln, projects RM12.749 bln revenue in 2024". DayakDaily. 20 November 2023. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  16. ^ "Moody's upgrades Sarawak's rating to stable, affirms A3 rating". The Malay Mail. 24 September 2021. Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference MIDA 2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ "Census 2020: Bumiputera population increases to almost 70pct". Malaysiakini. 14 February 2022. Archived from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  19. ^ Lau, Rachel (5 May 2019). "Bolstering Sarawak's trade outlook". The Borneo Post. Archived from the original on 12 June 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2022.