Putrajaya continued to see the highest monthly salaries & wages earned in 2022

Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Labuan, and Pulau Pinang exceeded the national media salaries & wages level of RM2,424.

All states and territories in Malaysia showed an increment in median monthly salaries & wages in 2022, with Putrajaya continuing to register the highest median at RM3,916.

Kuala Lumpur (RM3,276), Selangor (RM3,194), Labuan (RM2,703), and Pulau Pinang (RM2,507) continued to come in second to fifth place as well, the Department of Statistics' Salaries and Wages Survey Report 2022 added. As pointed out, these five states exceeded the national media salaries & wages level of RM2,424.

Overall, the breakdown of the median monthly salaries & wages for 2022, for the remaining states and territories, is as follows:

• Negeri Sembilan: RM2,301
• Melaka: RM2,284
• Johor: RM2,220
• Sarawak: RM2,115
• Pahang: RM2,065
• Sabah: RM2,015
• Perak: RM1,943
• Perlis: RM1,872
• Kedah: RM1,863
• Terengganu: RM1,743
• Kelantan: RM1,681

The report also revealed the mean recorded for all states & territories:

• Putrajaya: RM4,666
• Kuala Lumpur: RM4,207
• Selangor; RM3,737
• Labuan: RM3,418
• Pulau Pinang: RM3,313
• Negeri Sembilan: RM3,206
• Melaka: RM3,3113
• Johor: RM3,007
• Sarawak: RM2,976
• Sabah: RM2,972
• Pahang: RM2,897
• Perlis: RM2,777
• Perak: RM2,739
• Kedah: RM2,659
• Terengganu: RM2,657
• Kelantan: RM2,653

In addition to the above, the report detailed the median and mean monthly salaries & wages in the country by various factors, including skill category, industry, educational attainment, and age group.

Median and mean salaries & wages by skill category

In terms of skill category, skilled employees consistently received the highest median and mean monthly salaries & wages, recording RM4,506, followed by semi-skilled employees (RM1,817) and low-skilled employees (RM1,635). All categories showed an upward trend in their median monthly salaries & wages, compared to the previous year.

As for the mean monthly salaries & wages, skilled employees saw an increase of 3.7% or equivalent to RM177, reaching RM5,025 (2021: RM4,848). Within this category itself, the report noted:

• Managers continued to hold the highest mean monthly salaries & wages at RM6,385, 1.4% higher than last year (RM6,296),
• Professionals came in next, with RM5,900, and
• Technicians & associate professionals earned a median of RM3,668.

Meanwhile, the semi-skilled category recorded a mean monthly salary & wage of RM2,241 this year, a jump from RM2,064 recorded in 2021. Within this category, clerical support workers earned the highest mean monthly salaries & wages at RM2,555, followed by plant and machine-operators and assemblers (RM2,158), craft and related trades workers (RM2,154), and services & sales workers (RM2,139).

Finally, the low-skilled category – comprising elementary workers – recorded a mean monthly salary & wage of RM1,815 in 2022 (2021: RM1,749).

Median and mean salaries & wages by industry

Looking at the economic activities in 2022, an upward trend was observed in the median monthly salaries & wages across various sectors. Mining & quarrying sector retained its position as the top earner, with a median monthly salary & wage of RM4,268. Following closely was the services sector with RM2,630, and the manufacturing sector with RM2,205. On the other hand, the agriculture sector registered the lowest median value since 2010, at RM1,504.

Next, all sectors also noted an increasing trend in mean monthly salaries & wages, all sectors signified an increasing trend in 2022., according to the report. Leading the way was the Mining & quarrying sector, registering a mean monthly salary & wage of RM5,247. The services sector came in next (RM3,416), followed by manufacturing (RM2,813) and construction (RM2,535), while agriculture sector recorded the lowest mean of RM1,927.

Median and mean salaries & wages by educational attainment

Coming to the next factor - educational attainment, individuals with tertiary education recorded the highest media monthly salary & wage of RM3,890, up RM96 from what was recorded in 2021 (RM3,794). Similarly, individuals with secondary education earned about RM76 more in median figures (+4.2%), registering a median monthly salary & wage of RM1,873.

Finally, those with primary education also experienced an increase in the median monthly salary & wage earned this year (RM1,493), 3.4% more than last year (rm1,448); while those with no formal education registered an increase of RM42 (+3.2%), recording RM1,357.

In a similar vein, all categories of education recorded an increase in mean monthly salaries & wages this year:

• Tertiary education: RM4,454 (+5.1%, or RM215 more than in 2021),
• Secondary education: RM2,301 (+6.1%, or RM132 more than in 2021), and
• Primary education: RM1,642 (+3.7%, or RM58 more than in 2021).

Concurrently, those with no formal education also recorded an increase of RM68 (+4.7%) to reach RM1,522 in comparison to 2021 (RM1,454).

Median and mean salaries & wages by age group 

Delving into the numbers by age group, most age groups recorded increases in the number of recipients salaries & wages compared to 2021, DOSM noted. There was also an upward trend in both the median and mean monthly salaries & wages across all age groups in 2022 vs 2021.

Breaking the data down, the salaries & wages recipients were concentrated in the age group of 25 to 29 years, which accounted for 15.6% of total, followed by the age group of 30 to 34 years (14.2%), and the age group of 35 to 39 years (13.7%).

As noted, employees between the age of 40 to 44 years earned the highest median monthly salaries & wages in 2022 (RM3,430) and in contrast, those in the age group of 15 to 19 years recorded the lowest median monthly salaries & wages, standing at RM1,490.

As for the mean monthly salaries & wages, those aged 45 to 49 years recorded the highest mean value at RM4,133, followed by those aged 40 to 44 years (RM4,050), and aged 50 to 54 years (RM4,014).

Finally, the largest recipient group was the age group of 25 to 29 years, which registered a mean monthly salary & wage of RM2,519 (2021: RM2,333)

Full report here for further details, including on median and mean salaries & wages by gender and strata.

About the report

Statistics published in the report were compiled based on the Salaries & Wages Survey conducted by DOSM in approaching households, to measure the monthly salaries & wages received by the full-time equivalent of paid employees among the Malaysian citizens working in the private and public sectors based on their principal occupation.

Out of a total of 15.39mn employed persons recorded in 2022, the number of full-time equivalents of paid employees among Malaysian citizens was 9.95mn persons.

Photo: DOSM