Malaysia’s Median Wages in 1Q 2025
MALAYSIA – The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) has released the latest Employee Wages Statistics (Formal Sector) Q1 2025 Report. In this post, we explore Malaysia’s median monthly wages across multiple demographic information: state, ethnicity, age group & gender.
Scope
- This analysis focuses on median monthly wages in Malaysia, covering the period from January 2024 to March 2025.
- We compare wage levels across several key demographic factors:
- State
- Ethnicity
- Age Group
- Gender
- Important Notes:
- It excludes individuals in nonstandard employment such as:
- Own-account workers
- Unpaid family workers
- It excludes individuals in nonstandard employment such as:
- All data is sourced from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM)
National Overview
As of March 2025, Malaysia’s median wage stands at RM 3,000, showing a slight increase from RM2,875 in February 2025.
- 🔺 Year-on-year growth: +5.5% compared to March 2024 (RM2,844)
Wages by State
W.P. Kuala Lumpur continues to record the highest median wage in Malaysia at RM4,445 (March 2025), while Kelantan and Perlis have the lowest at RM1,800, just slightly above the national minimum wage of RM1,700. (source)
Wages by Ethnicity
By ethnic group, the Chinese recorded the highest median wage at RM4,482 (March 2025), followed by the Indian group (RM 2,900), Bumiputera (RM 2,545), and others (RM 2,300).
Wages by Gender
By gender group, there is minimal difference in median wages as of March 2025:
Male employees recorded a median monthly wage of RM3,000, while female employees earned RM2,982.
Wages by Age Group
Workers aged 45–49 remain the top earners, followed closely by those aged 40–44. Meanwhile, workers under 20 earn a median wage of RM1,700. (March 2025)
Conclusion
Malaysia’s wage landscape is showing a promising outlook. The median monthly wage continues to grow steadily, and when viewed alongside inflation rates (source) and a stable unemployment rate (source), it reflects a slow but consistent economic recovery.
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