The labour force in Malaysia in 2022 strengthened further by 1.4 per cent (+224.9 thousand persons) reaching a total of 16.02 million persons as compared to 15.80 million persons in 2021. Meanwhile, the labour force participation rate (LFPR) remained on an increasing trend, escalated by 0.7 percentage points to 69.3 per cent (2021: 68.6%).
Employed Person
In 2022, there were 15.39 million employed persons, an increase of 2.2 per cent or 327.6 thousand persons, as compared to the preceding year (2021: 15.06 million persons). Subsequently, the employment-to-population ratio, which indicates the ability of an economy to create employment, increased 1.1 percentage points year-on-year to reach 66.5 per cent (2021: 65.4%).
Unemployment
In comparison to the previous year, the unemployment rate in 2022 registered a reduction of 0.7 percentage points to 3.9 per cent due to the improvement of the economy which is gradually recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. In line with that, the number of unemployed decreased by 102.7 thousand persons to record 630.4 thousand unemployed persons (2021: 733.0 thousand persons).
Outside Labour Force
In 2022, the total population outside the labour force reached 7.11 million persons, which decreased by 1.5 per cent or equivalent to 111.3 thousand persons (2021: 7.22 million persons). By sex, females represent 69.6 per cent of the population of the outside labour force and males account for 30.4 per cent. The number of females outside the labour force decreased by 0.2 per cent to 4.95 million persons (2021: 4.95 million persons), while males decreased by 4.6 per cent to 2.16 million persons (2021: 2.27 million persons).
Selected Indicators by State
In terms of performance by states, the higher labour force participation rate indicates more labour participation in the economy. In 2022, all states registered increases in LFPR with the highest LFPR recorded in Selangor recorded the highest rate at 76.9 per cent, followed by W.P. Putrajaya (75.7%), W.P. Kuala Lumpur (72.4%), Johor and Sabah (70.9%).
Meanwhile, as for the unemployment rate by states, all states also recorded a decrease in the unemployment rate. During the year, W.P. Putrajaya posted the lowest unemployment rate with 1.0 per cent, followed by Melaka (1.6%) and Pahang (2.5%).
