According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), 8.6% of Malaysian workers received monthly salaries worth RM10,000 and above in September 2025.
Malaysian Chief Statistician, Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin informed that 8.8% of the total workers received monthly salaries below RM1,700 in September 2025, a decrease of 13.5% compared to September 2024.
He also stated that 10% of Malaysian workers received the lowest salary of RM1,700 or less per month, while workers in the 90th percentile received at least RM9,000 per month.
According to Mohd Uzir, this difference shows that workers in the 90th percentile received five times the salary of the lowest paid group, thus reflecting the significant gap between the high and low income groups.
At the same time, DOSM announced that the median monthly salary of 7.06 million formal workers amounted to RM2,864 in September 2025, recording an increase of 4.3% year-on-year compared to RM2,745 in the previous year.
The increase was supported by stable employment growth in line with the increase in the number of workers.
The Malaysian labor market recorded an increase of 3.5% for the third quarter of 2025, indicating that job opportunities in Malaysia remain resilient.
In terms of gender, male workers comprised 55.1% or 3.89 million people of the total number of formal workers in September 2025.
Statistics show that the median monthly salary of men is higher by RM2,900 compared to female workers who comprised 3.17 million people or 44.9% only received a salary of RM2,800.
Meanwhile, salary receipt statistics by age group show that workers aged 45 to 49 recorded the highest median monthly wage throughout the third quarter of 2025.
By state, Kuala Lumpur recorded the highest median wage of RM4,064, followed by Selangor (RM3,127) and Penang (RM2,927).
Meanwhile, Kelantan and Perlis recorded the lowest median monthly wage of RM1,800, while Sabah and Kedah recorded around RM2,000 each for the same period.
