Malaysia’s GDP Grows 5.3% as War Starts to Strain Economy

Malaysia’s economy expanded at a slower-than-expected pace in the first quarter as the Middle East conflict began to weigh on the nation’s major industries, including manufacturing and services.

Gross domestic product rose 5.3% in the January-March period from a year earlier, according to advance estimates from the Department of Statistics Malaysia on Friday. That compares to the 5.5% median estimate in a Bloomberg survey and 6.3% growth in the last quarter of 2025.