BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Brunei's total trade balance amounted to 357.5 million Brunei dollars (269.3 million U.S. dollars), an impressive 51.3 percent year-on-year increase in December 2017, according to the latest statistics released by the Department of Economic Planning and Development (JPKE) at the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday.

The exports amounted to 748.0 million Brunei dollars in December, a 37 percent year-on-year increase, while imports were valued at 390.5 million Brunei dollars, according to the statistics. Mineral Fuels recorded the highest contribution of 91.6 percent to total exports.

The highest exports market was Japan with 35.7 percent of total exports, followed by Singapore (17.5 percent), Thailand (14.7 percent) and South Korea (13.9 percent).

In December 2017, imports of goods increased by 26.1 percent year-on-year from 236.3 million Brunei dollars in December 2016 to 390.5 million Brunei dollars.

The highest imports came from China with 37.4 percent of total imports, followed by Malaysia (15.7 percent), Singapore (11.4 percent), the United States (9.3 percent).