Malaysia posted its 83rd consecutive trade surplus in September on the back of the strongest growth in exports this year, the government said today.

It said the September trade surplus rose 4.7 percent from last year to RM7.31 billion as exports jumped 28.8 percent to RM44.38 billion.

Imports in the month grew 34.9 percent to RM37.07 billion.

Compared with August, however, the trade surplus fell 9.3 percent.

The growth in September exports was led by significant gains in electrical and electronic products, crude petroleum, chemicals and chemical products, refined petroleum products and palm oil.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the United States, the European Union, Japan, China and Hong Kong collectively accounted for 78.8 percent of Malaysia's total exports for the month.

In the January to September period, the trade surplus stood at RM60.05 billion, compared with RM61.23 billion in the same period last year.