Malaysia's total exports in May 2010 registered an increase of 21.9 percent compared with May 2009 to 52.3 billion ringgit (16.19 billion U.S. dollars), according to a statement Friday.

The increase in exports of 9.38 billion ringgit (2.90 billion U. S. dollars) was largely due to higher exports of electrical and electronic products, liquefied natural gas and crude petroleum, the Malaysian Statistics Department said in the statement.

According to the department, export values of the said items increased by 2.28 billion ringgit (705.88 million U.S. dollars), 1. 56 billion ringgit (482.97 million U.S. dollars) and 1.35 billion ringgit (417.96 million U.S. dollars).

The top five export destinations for Malaysia were Singapore, China, Japan, the United States and Thailand, accounting for 51.3 percent of Malaysia's total exports.

Meanwhile, Malaysia's total imports surged by 34.2 percent to 44.15 billion ringgit (13.67 billion U.S. dollars) due mainly to higher imports of intermediate and capital goods.