KUALA LUMPUR : Malaysia's exports slumped 29.7 percent in May from a year earlier, hitting their lowest level since 2001 with demand evaporating, according to official data released Friday.

The trade ministry said in a statement that exports plunged to 42.95 billion ringgit (12.19 billion dollars) year-on-year while imports fell 27.8 percent.

Total trade from January to May was worth 360.78 billion ringgit, a decrease of 25.3 percent from a year earlier, but Malaysia did manage to record a trade surplus of 10.02 billion ringgit for May.

Yeah Kim Leng, chief economist at ratings agency RAM Holdings, said the sharp contraction was the worst for Malaysia since the dot com bubble burst in 2001.

"This is worse than expected given that we were expecting some improvements," he told AFP, noting that export figures however improved slightly by 4.5 percent month-on-month from April.

"What we can infer from this is the stabilisation in global demand will only be reflected in Malaysia's export performance in the third quarter," he added.

The trade ministry said the steep decline in exports was mostly due to lower demand from key trading partners, especially for electrical and electronic products which account for one-third of Malaysia's total exports.

Malaysia's key exports markets are Singapore, China, Japan, Thailand and the United States.

In April, Malaysian exports fell 26.3 percent.

The government has said the export-dependent economy is likely to contract by 4.0-5.0 percent this year due to the drop-off in exports and manufacturing.

Foreign investment has also seen a big dip this year. Trade Minister Mustapa Mohamed said Thursday that foreign direct investment for the first five months stood at 4.2 billion ringgit compared to 46 billion ringgit in 2008.

- AFP /ls