Malaysia's median wages rise 5.3pct to RM2,940 in 2025, Putrajaya tops pay at RM5,417

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's median wages increased by 5.3 percent to RM2,940 in 2025, with Putrajaya reporting the highest mean monthly salaries at RM5,417, according to the Statistics Department's Salaries & Wages Survey Report 2025. The median wage, which better represents the typical worker's earnings, rose from RM2,793 in 2024, indicating ongoing improvements in pay levels as the labor market expanded.

The survey revealed that the number of full-time paid employees receiving monthly salaries and wages grew to 12.01 million, up from 11.96 million the previous year. Malaysian citizens comprised 86.4 percent of these full-time paid employees. Selangor had the largest share of Malaysian citizen wage recipients at 25.6 percent, followed by Johor at 13.6 percent and Sarawak at 7.6 percent.

Putrajaya led among states and federal territories in mean monthly salaries, with Kuala Lumpur and Selangor following at RM4,955 and RM4,258, respectively. Only five states and federal territories recorded mean monthly salaries above the national level of RM3,803, which included Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang, and Labuan.

The growth in both mean and median monthly salaries and wages reflected improvements in the labor market and workers' incomes. Experts emphasized that sustained efforts to raise productivity, enhance skills, and create high-value jobs would be crucial for supporting sustainable real wage growth and workers' well-being. The services sector remained the primary source of wage employment, accounting for 71.5 percent of wage recipients, with a 1.8 percent increase in the sector's wage recipients to 7.42 million.

Mining and quarrying workers earned the highest mean monthly salaries at RM6,175, while agriculture workers had the lowest at RM2,575. Skilled workers, comprising 36.6 percent of wage recipients, recorded the highest mean monthly salaries at RM5,799, while low-skilled workers saw a 2.6 percent increase to RM2,184. Male Malaysian citizens accounted for 58.6 percent of citizen paid employees, with their mean monthly salaries rising 4.3 percent to RM3,921, compared to a 3.9 percent increase to RM3,635 for female employees.