Malaysia’s formal sector workers recorded a median monthly wage of RM3,000 in March 2025, marking a 5.5% increase compared to RM2,844 a year earlier, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) in its First Quarter 2025 Employee Wages Statistics (Formal Sector) report.

The wage growth coincided with steady increases in formal employment, which rose by 3.1% in January, 3.4% in February, and 3.6% in March.

Commenting on the findings, Chief Statistician Malaysia, Dato’ Sri Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin, said that the increase in wages points to a stronger job market, backed by recent policy changes and economic conditions. “The increase in median monthly wage reflects a more favourable labour market landscape, supported by the recent minimum wage revision and continued economic growth in the first quarter of 2025,” he said. 

Wage Growth Seen Across Gender And Age Groups

In March 2025, men accounted for 55.1% of Malaysia’s formal sector workforce, with 3.7 million employed and a median monthly wage of RM3,000. Women made up 44.9% of the workforce, totalling 3.04 million employees, and earned a slightly lower median wage of RM2,982.

On a year-on-year basis, the median wage for male employees rose by 3.4%, while female employees recorded a stronger growth of 6.5%.

All age groups experienced wage increases, with the largest gain among workers below the age of 20. Their median wage rose by 13.3% to RM1,700, following the implementation of the revised minimum wage policy in February 2025. Employee numbers increased across all age groups except those aged 20 to 24.

Sector And Regional Wage Comparisons

The Mining and quarrying sector continued to offer the highest median monthly wage at RM8,800 in March 2025, despite accounting for just 0.6% of formal employment. This was a 4.8% increase from the previous year. At the lower end, the Agriculture sector had a median wage of RM2,200 and made up 1.9% of the formal workforce.

Regionally, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur recorded the highest median wage at RM4,445, followed by Selangor at RM3,300. The lowest median wages were in Sabah (RM2,000), Kelantan (RM1,800), and Perlis (RM1,800).

Fewer Low-income Earners In The Formal Sector

As of March 2025, 27.4% of formal sector employees earned less than RM2,000 per month. This marks a 3.8 percentage point improvement compared to 31.2% in March 2024.

The 10th percentile of formal employees earned RM1,700 or less, up 13.3% from RM1,500 a year ago. Meanwhile, the 90th percentile earned RM11,000 or more, reflecting a 4.8% increase from the same period last year. This means that the top 10% of earners received six times more than the lowest 10%.

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• TAGS:
• Dato’ Sri Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin
• Department of Statistics Malaysia
• DOSM
• First Quarter 2025 Employee Wages Statistics
• Formal Sector
• Monthly Wage