26.11.202523:57:44UTC+00Brunei Trade Surplus Widens

In September 2025, Brunei's trade surplus rose to BND 354.3 million, up from BND 339.5 million in the same period the previous year. Despite the increase in surplus, exports showed a decline of 12.1% year-on-year, totaling BND 1.03 billion. This drop was largely due to reduced shipments in key sectors such as mineral fuels (-10.5%), chemicals (-18.3%), and machinery and transport equipment (-24.1%). Major export partners were Australia, accounting for 22.2% of total shipments, followed by China (21.2%), Singapore (16.5%), Japan (9.6%), and Taiwan (8.4%).

Conversely, imports experienced a significant decrease of 18.8%, amounting to BND 670.7 million. This decline was attributed to a diminished demand for mineral fuels (-22.7%), machinery and transport equipment (-17.8%), and miscellaneous manufactured articles (-9.9%). Malaysia continued to be the leading source of imports, making up 27.0%, with Singapore (18.8%), Australia (9.9%), the United Arab Emirates (7.4%), China (5.9%), and the U.S. (3.9%) following.

Over the first nine months of the year, Brunei's trade surplus slightly decreased to BND 3.98 billion from BND 4.04 billion in the previous year. This was due to a 13.1% reduction in exports, while imports saw a more pronounced drop of 19.2%.