Malaysia's GDP Grows 6.3% in the Fourth Quarter of 2025 as the Full Year Reaches 5.2%, the Highest Since 2022
Malaysia's economy expanded 6.3% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2025, capping a year in which growth reached 5.2% for the full year — above Bank Negara Malaysia's final forecast range of 4.0%-4.8% and the highest annual pace since 2022.
From the 5.7% advance estimate to the 6.3% print
The quarterly figure moved through successive readings before settling at the level reported by The Edge Malaysia on Feb 13, 2026. The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) had put fourth-quarter growth at 5.7% year-on-year in its advance estimate, and Bank Negara Malaysia's first-quarter 2026 bulletin carried a revised reading of 6.2%. The growth rate for the fourth quarter of 2025 stands at 6.3% year-on-year, making it the strongest quarterly print of the year and the anchor of the full-year result.
Full-year 2025: the fastest growth since 2022
For 2025 as a whole, gross domestic product grew 5.2%. That outcome exceeded the final forecast range of 4.0%-4.8% set by Bank Negara Malaysia and marked the highest full-year growth since 2022, as corroborated by The Edge Malaysia in its coverage of the annual figure. Finishing above the official range means the economy closed the year materially ahead of the central bank's expectations.
Bank Negara Malaysia's fourth-quarter 2025 release attributes the result to two engines: strong domestic demand and favourable exports. On the demand side, household spending and investment carried the expansion, while the external sector contributed favourable export performance even as the trade balance itself worked against growth.
Demand drivers: consumption and capital formation
The central bank's release breaks the demand contribution for the fourth quarter of 2025 down into the following components:
- private consumption, up 5.2% year-on-year;
- gross fixed capital formation, up 9.6%;
- private investment, up 9.4%, led by data centres and cloud services, information and communications technology, and electrical and electronics;
- net exports, contracting as imports outpaced exports.
The pace of capital formation is the standout feature of the quarter: investment in fixed assets grew faster than any other demand component, and private investment alone advanced 9.4%.
Investment: data centres, cloud, ICT and E&E
The composition of private investment points to the technology-intensive projects that have anchored Malaysia's investment cycle. Data centres and cloud infrastructure, information and communications technology, and electrical and electronics are the segments Bank Negara Malaysia names behind the 9.4% advance in private investment, and the same segments sit behind the 9.6% expansion in gross fixed capital formation.
Trade: imports outpacing exports
Exports were favourable over the year and are named among the drivers of the 2025 result, yet the net export line subtracted from growth in the fourth quarter: imports grew faster than exports, so net exports contracted. The divergence between the two flows means the external sector supported activity through export volumes while the trade balance itself narrowed.
Inflation at 1.3% in the fourth quarter
Price pressure remained contained through the quarter: inflation stood at 1.3% in the fourth quarter of 2025, Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Datuk Seri Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour said in his comments on the release. The governor's reading accompanies the central bank's account of a quarter driven by strong domestic demand and favourable exports.
The quarter in figures
The published set of figures for the fourth quarter and the full year of 2025:
- fourth-quarter 2025 GDP: +6.3% year-on-year, against a 5.7% DOSM advance estimate and a 6.2% revision in Bank Negara Malaysia's first-quarter 2026 bulletin;
- full-year 2025 GDP: +5.2%, above the 4.0%-4.8% final forecast range and the highest since 2022;
- private consumption +5.2%, gross fixed capital formation +9.6%, private investment +9.4%;
- net exports: contracting, with imports outpacing exports;
- inflation: 1.3% in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The figures were published by The Edge Malaysia on Feb 13, 2026.
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