KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 21): Nearly two-thirds of Malaysia’s wage earners were in semi- and low-skilled jobs in 2025, with median monthly wages of RM2,223 or less, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
Semi-skilled workers, who accounted for 55.6% of wage earners, had a median monthly wage of RM2,223, while low-skilled workers, who make up 7.8% of wage earners, earned RM1,758. Skilled workers, by comparison, earned a median RM5,057. Skilled workers make up 36.6% of total wage recipients.
Low-skilled workers also recorded the weakest wage growth among the three groups, with their median pay rising 6.3% in 2025, compared with increases of 8.4% for semi-skilled workers and 8.1% for skilled workers.
The figures point to a wide wage gap across skill levels, with skilled workers earning nearly three times as much as low-skilled workers.
Skilled occupations include managers, professionals, and technicians and associate professionals. Semi-skilled jobs cover clerical, service and sales, trades, agricultural and machine operator roles, while low-skilled work mainly comprises elementary occupations.
Among skilled occupations, managers remained the highest paid, with their median monthly wage rising 3.3% to RM6,186 in 2025 from RM5,990 a year earlier. Professionals were close behind at RM6,124.
Overall, the median monthly wage for Malaysian citizens rose 5.3% to RM2,940 in 2025, while the mean increased 4.1% to RM3,803.
Wage growth was particularly strong in rural areas, where the median monthly wage jumped nearly 20% to RM2,035 in 2025 from RM1,698 a year earlier, marking the strongest annual increase since at least 2020. By comparison, the urban median rose 6% to RM3,022.
Growth also varied by qualification. Diploma holders saw their median wages rise 10.7% to RM3,779, considerably faster than the increase among degree holders, although degree holders continued to earn more overall.
The DOSM said stronger productivity, skills development and the creation of higher-value jobs would be important to support sustainable wage growth.
In 2018, Bank Negara Malaysia defined a living wage in Kuala Lumpur for a single adult at RM2,700, a couple with no children at RM4,500 per month and a couple with two children at RM6,500 per month. A living wage is the income a household needs to afford an acceptable standard of living, participate in society and live free from severe financial stress.