The COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia has had a significant impact on the Malaysian economy, leading to the devaluation of the Malaysian ringgit (MYR) and the decline in the country's gross domestic product. The pandemic also adversely affected several key sectors including entertainment, markets, retail, hospitality, and tourism. Besides shortages in goods and services, many businesses had to cope with social distancing and lockdown restrictions, which affected their operations and revenue. The pandemic also drew attention to workplace safety and the exploitation of migrant workers working in Malaysian industries.
Economy
Stocks on Malaysia's stock exchange of Bursa Malaysia tumbled during the outbreak as investors sold securities due to the expected economic impact caused by the virus, which along with other emerging stock markets are predicted to remain until June 2020. With China as Malaysia's largest trading partner, the country's economy was directly impacted and economic experts have warned the prolonged virus outbreak could hit the country's gross domestic product (GDP) hard. In late February, Aberdeen Standard Investments of Malaysia also predicted that the Malaysian ringgit (MYR) would weaken further due to the local and worldwide outbreak, with ramifications for the 2020 Malaysian political crisis.
On 11 February 2021, it was reported that Malaysia's gross domestic product (GDP) had shrunk by 3.4% in the fourth quarter from last year. In addition, the Malaysian economy contracted 5.6% for all of 2020, its worst performance since the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis.
On 3 August 2023, the World Bank praised Malaysia's post-COVID-19 economic recovery performance. While COVID-19 reduced employment and household income, the World Bank's report found that the Government's financial support to companies, targeted payment deferrals, and workers' wage subsidies helped lessen the economic impact of the pandemic.
Entertainment and recreation
On 22 June, Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that cinemas, theatres and other live events would be allowed to reopen from 1 July, with a limit of 250 people.
On 10 July, Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that family entertainment centres including game arcades, karaoke centres, indoor funfairs, edutainment centres for children, and kids' gymnasiums can resume operations from 15 July. However, discos, pubs, and nightclubs cannot be reopened yet.
Following a new wave of outbreaks in October 2020, the Malaysian Association Of Film Exhibitors (MAFE) announced that they would be temporarily closing all cinemas in Malaysia from 2 November to help contain the spread of COVID-19.
Markets and bazaars
Due to the cancellation of the Ramadan bazaars, many Malaysian traders have used online platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook to sell their products in late April 2020.
On 7 June 2020, the Mayor of Kuala Lumpur Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan announced that the Kuala Lumpur City Hall will allow open markets, morning markets, night markets and bazaars to reopen in stages in the Safe Transition (Phase 2) on 15 June.
Panic buying and essential item shortages
The rise of cases and public awareness of the virus's threat has intensified panic buying of surgical masks and hand sanitizers, which were already selling like hotcakes in a short period of time. Malaysian cities, such as Johor Bahru and Kota Kinabalu, have reported shortages of surgical masks, while a cleaning company in Shah Alam reported a higher demand for hand sanitisers due to the outbreak.
There were reports that some pharmacies and traders have been selling masks at higher prices than the controlled price set by the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry of Malaysia which can lead to fines of up to RM10,000 (US$2,387). This also includes reports of some people being scammed by unscrupulous individuals taking advantage of the pandemic situation, with a further total of 501 fraud cases involving losses amounting to RM3.5 million reported throughout the MCO period resulting in the arrests of 37 scammers. Despite the increasing shortages of masks in the country with both pharmacies and suppliers struggling to meet the increasing demands, the federal government has assured the supply of masks to be replenished with a total of 10 million masks to enter Malaysian markets in the nearest time.