Malaysia’s formal labour market remained resilient in March 2026, with the number of formal employees increasing 3.8% year-on-year to 7.05 million, reflecting continued employment growth amid a stable economic environment, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
The latest wage statistics released by DOSM showed that the country’s formal workforce continued to expand while wage levels improved across most demographic groups and industries.
Male employees accounted for 55.0% of Malaysia’s formal workforce, or 3.88 million workers, and recorded a median monthly wage of RM3,064 in March.
Female employees made up the remaining 45.0%, or 3.17 million workers, with a median monthly wage of RM3,000, indicating a relatively narrow wage gap between genders.
Employees aged 45 to 49 years continued to receive the highest median monthly wages during the first quarter of 2026.
The age group recorded a median monthly wage of RM4,100 in March, following RM4,145 in February and RM4,156 in January.
DOSM said all age groups registered year-on-year increases in median monthly wages except employees aged below 20 years.
Workers aged 55 to 59 years posted the strongest annual wage growth, while employees under 20 continued to earn a median monthly wage of RM1,700, unchanged since February 2025.
By industry, the Mining and Quarrying sector remained Malaysia’s highest-paying sector, with a median monthly wage of RM9,678 despite accounting for just 0.5% of total formal employment.
The Agriculture sector recorded the lowest median monthly wage at RM2,327, although wages in the sector increased 5.8% compared with a year earlier. Agriculture accounted for 1.8% of Malaysia’s formal workforce.
Geographically, Kuala Lumpur continued to offer the highest median monthly wage at RM4,527, followed by Selangor at RM3,445 and Penang at RM3,064.
At the other end of the scale, Kelantan recorded the lowest median monthly wage at RM1,827, followed by Perlis at RM1,855 and Sabah at RM2,082.
The figures highlight persistent regional income disparities despite continued improvements in the overall labour market.
DOSM also reported improvements in lower-income wage distribution.
The proportion of formal employees earning below RM1,700 per month declined to 7.9% in March 2026, down by 2.0 percentage points from the same month last year.
The decline suggests that the implementation of Malaysia’s revised minimum wage policy has continued to lift earnings among lower-income workers.
Despite overall wage improvements, income disparities remain pronounced.
According to DOSM’s percentile analysis, the bottom 10% of Malaysian formal employees earned RM1,700 or less per month, while workers in the 90th percentile received at least RM11,500 monthly.
This means top-income earners earned more than six times the wages of those in the lowest income group, underscoring the continued wage gap across Malaysia’s formal labour market.
The latest data indicates that Malaysia’s labour market remained on a stable footing in March 2026, supported by expanding employment, rising wages across most age groups and sectors, and a declining share of workers earning below the minimum wage, although regional and income disparities continue to persist.
