Malaysian households spent a mean of RM4,534 per month in 2019 compared to the monthly figure of RM4,033 in 2016, a survey by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) found.

According to the Household Expenditure Survey Report 2019, the difference between the monthly household consumption expenditure for 2019 and 2016 is an increase of 3.9% per annum. This increase in consumption expenditure is in tandem with the moderate growth of mean monthly household income at 4.2% for the same period.

In urban areas, household expenditure grew from RM4,402 to RM4,916 per month, an increase of 3.7% per annum from 2016. Meanwhile, in rural areas, the increase was slightly less at 3.6% per annum, from RM2,752 spent each month to RM3,038. The report stated that these statistics indirectly reflect that the mean household consumption expenditure in urban areas was about 1.6 times higher than in rural areas.

The level of urbanisation also made a difference in the consumption expenditure patterns in urban and rural households. For urban areas, the highest percentage of expenditure went to housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at 24%. In rural areas however, food and non-alcoholic beverages made up the highest expenditure group at 24.4%.

For the total household consumption expenditure in the country, it was found that the major components of expenditure remained the same from 2016: housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, food and non-alcoholic beverages, restaurants and hotels, and transport. These main groups of expenditure contributed to 68.3% of the total household consumption expenditure in Malaysia for 2019.

(Source: DOSM)

• TAGS:
• Department of Statistics Malaysia
• DOSM
• Household Expenditure
• Household Expenditure Survey 2019
• Surveys