Stats show that Penang’s mean monthly household income below average

PETALING JAYA: The mean monthly household income for Penang is below the national average based on the latest figures from the Statistics Department, says Datuk Michael Lee.

In a statement Tuesday, the Penang MCA Youth chief said that according to these figures, the Household Income and Basic Amenities Survey 2016 shows that the average family in Penang took home RM6,771 a month.

This compared to a mean average household income of RM6,958 for Malaysia as a whole.

“The Pearl of the Orient has officially sunk to a below-average state for mean household income as the RM6,771 figure is below the national average,” said Lee.

“In 2009, KL households earned RM1,081 per month more than Penang. But in 2016, this chasm widened to RM4,921 per month,” he added.

Kuala Lumpur leads the country with the highest monthly household income mean of RM11,692 for 2016, while Selangor is just behind with a monthly household income of RM9,463 a month.

Figures have shown that the mean monthly household income for Malaysians increased by 6.2 per cent, from RM6,141 in 2014 to RM6,958 in 2016.

Other states that were “below-average” were Johor (RM6,928), Melaka (RM6,849), Negri Sembilan (RM5,887), Terengganu (RM5,776), Sarawak (5,387), Sabah (RM5,354), Perak (RM5,065), Pahang (5,012), Perlis (RM4,998), and Kedah (RM4,971).

Kelantan remained the state with the lowest household mean monthly income, with a mere RM4,214 a month.

The Malaysian household median monthly income crossed the RM5,000 mark for the first time last year, with the middle 40% (M40) households registering the highest growth in median income, according to the Statistics Department.

In the 2016 Household Income and Basic Amenities survey, the Statistics Department noted that Malaysian households recorded a 6.6% increase per annum in median monthly income to RM5,228 in 2016 compared to RM4,585 in 2014.

Household group-wise, the median monthly income of the bottom 40% (B40), M40 and top 20% (T20) households all rose last year compared to 2014. The B40, M40 and T20 households registered median monthly incomes of RM3,000, RM6,275 and RM13,148 in 2016.

The 18th series of the survey report, which involved 85,400 household premises throughout the country, was conducted from May 2016 to April 2017.