PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s formal sector median monthly wage has increased by 4.3% in June this year, while the number of jobs for the April-June period has risen to the highest levels since the first quarter of 2022 (1Q22).
It is, however, worth noting that June’s median wage grew slightly slower than May’s 5.4% year-on-year (y-o-y).
In fact, June’s median monthly wage was RM200, or 6.5%, lower than January’s RM3,064, according to economist Geoffrey Williams.
“It is a trend decline over the last six months and is about where it was in March last year. Due to inflation, this lower income buys less in the shops and so, most people are worse off now than they were in March 2024,” he told StarBiz.
According to the Statistics Department, June’s rise was backed by a total of 9.1 million jobs, representing a 1.6% hike y-o-y increase, compared to 8.96 million jobs 2Q24.
Subsequently, the number of formal employees registered an improvement, growing by 3.5%.
On its distribution, chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said 10.4% of total Malaysian formal employees earned monthly wages below RM1,700 in June 2025, marking a reduction of 12.2 percentage points compared to June 2024.
In addition, data showed that the bottom 10% of employees received monthly wages of RM1,664, while those in the 90th percentile got at least RM9,200 monthly.
“This disparity illustrates that employees in the 90th percentile earn five times more than those in the lowest wage group, underscoring the prevailing wage gap between the highest and lowest earners,” he said.
Williams added that around 30% of people earn less than RM2,000 per month, and 20% earn below the minimum wage.
“This is only for people in formal employment, we do not know the income for millions of people in informal employment,” he acknowledged.
On the median monthly wages, Mohd Uzir said all age groups saw yearly increments.
“The highest growth was recorded by the age group below 20 years, with a median monthly wage of RM1,700 in June 2025 – an increase of 13.3% compared to the previous year,” he said.
He added that wages across all sectors increased, particularly the mining and quarrying sector which saw the highest yearly growth of 10.2%, reaching RM6,500 in June this year. In contrast, the agriculture sector posted the lowest median monthly wage at RM2,200.
On locality, Mohd Uzir said all states recorded growth, with three exceeding the national median monthly wage of RM2,864.
“Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur registered the highest median monthly wage at RM4,064, followed by Selangor at RM3,145 and Pulau Pinang at RM2,927,” he noted.
As for the lowest median monthly wages, Kelantan recorded RM1,764, followed by Perlis at RM1,800, as well as Sabah and Kedah at RM2,000.
Furthermore, when comparing genders, data showed that males earned RM100 more than females in median monthly wages.
“The median monthly wage for male formal employees stood at RM2,900, while females were at RM2,800,” he noted.
Meanwhile, on his outlook, Williams said it is likely that the number of employed people will continue to rise because the cost of living is forcing more people, especially women and young people, into work.
“They take low-salaried jobs, and this pushes down median wages,” he added.
