Contribution of e-commerce to the GDP of Malaysia 2015-2022
As online shopping is becoming more common among Malaysian consumers, the e-commerce market also has a larger impact on the country’s economy. In 2022, e-commerce contributed nearly 240 billion Malaysian ringgit to the gross domestic product (GDP), an increase of around 38 billion Malaysian ringgit compared to the previous year.
The era of e-commerce
A 2023 survey showed that around 25 percent of Malaysian respondents would make online purchases at least once a month, while 11 percent claimed they shopped online once a week. E-commerce has gained traction in Malaysia, especially in the aftermath of COVID-19 and the Movement Control Order (MCO), during which most businesses and physical stores were closed. Since then, the e-commerce market value in Malaysia has increased by around 12 billion Malaysian ringgit.
Which platform leads the Malaysian market?
In 2024, Shopee dominated the share of traffic of e-commerce platforms in Malaysia, with a 48 percent share. The platform was first launched in 2015, by Singaporean e-commerce giant, Sea Limited. Nine years later, Shopee became the leading e-commerce player in the Southeast Asian market. In 2022, the Shopee app was downloaded more than 4.7 million times in Malaysia.