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By economic activity, all sectors recorded a year-on-year increase in median monthly wages.
Median monthly wages for Malaysia's formal sector saw an annual growth of 4.9%, to reach RM2,900 in December 2023.
For context, the number of Malaysian formal employees was recorded at 6.67mn persons in December 2023, which was an increase of 1.8% from the same month in the previous year. Breaking this down even further, male formal employees accounted for 55.5% of the total formal employees — equivalent to 3.70mn persons in December 2023. The median monthly wage for male formal employees stood at RM2,945 while female formal employees (2.97mn persons) of total formal employees received median monthly wage of RM2,845.
By age, the age range which received the highest median monthly wages was those between 45 to 49 years, at RM3,927 in December 2023. This age group also received the highest median monthly wages in October 2023 (RM3,500) and November 2023 (RM3,500). However, all age groups experienced an increase in median monthly wages in December 2023 compared to the previous year, with the exception of those below 20 years old.
By economic activity, all sectors recorded a year-on-year increase in median monthly wages.
- Mining and quarrying sector recorded the highest median monthly wages of RM6,844 in December 2023, despite only representing 0.6% of total formal employees.
- Mining and quarrying also experienced the highest year-on-year growth of 7.7% compared to the same month in the previous year.
- Conversely, Agriculture sector (1.9% of total formal employees) recorded the lowest median monthly wages of RM2,300, with an increase of 3.3% in December 2023.
By location, the median monthly wages witnessed a positive year-on-year growth for all states in the last three months of 2023. Interestingly, three states posted higher median monthly wages compared to the national median monthly wages of RM2,900:
- Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur posted the highest median monthly wages of RM4,045, followed by Pulau Pinang at RM3,245 and Selangor at RM3,164.
- Meanwhile, Kelantan, Perlis and Sabah registered the lowest median monthly wages in December 2023, with RM1,600, RM1,700 and RM1,882 respectively.
In terms of wage distribution in December 2023, 31.2% of Malaysian formal employees earned a monthly wages below RM2,000, a decline from 33.7% from the previous year. In the meantime, 10.7% of Malaysian formal employees earned monthly wages of RM10,000 and above in December 2023.
The wage ratio between the 90th and the 10th percentile indicates that the top 10% of wage earners received more than six times the earnings of the lowest 10% of wage earners.
Lead image / Department of Statistics Malaysia
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