Malaysia's 2018 salary & wages survey: Mean and median salaries

According to the Salaries & Wages Survey conducted by the Department of Statistics, Malaysia (DOSM), the average employed person earned a median of RM2,308 and a mean of RM3,087 in 2018, an increase of 6.6% and 7% respectively over 2017 salary data. Data below:

 

*For the survey, paid employee is defined as a person who works for at least six hours a day or at least 20 days a month. The total number of paid employees in 2018 was 8.8 million persons.

The survey also revealed 2018 wages and salary trends on the basis of education attainment and strata.

Salary & wages survey: By education status

• Those with tertiary education took home the highest pay - a median monthly salary of RM3,648 (an increase of 7% over 2017), and a mean monthly salary of RM 4,553 (an increase of 5.3% over 2017).
• On the other end of the spectrum, those with no formal education took home a median monthly salary of RM1,166 (an increase of 5.8% over 2017), and a mean monthly salary of RM 1,481 (an increase of 4.9% over 2017).

Full details below:

 

Salary & wages survey: By employee strata

• In 2018, the growth rate for median monthly salaries & wages of employees in the urban area increased by 6.6% to RM2,415. Meanwhile, the median monthly salaries & wages for employees in the rural area grew 5.6%.
• The growth rates of mean monthly salaries & wages of employees in both urban and rural areas were 7.5% and 2.1% respectively.

Full details below:

 

All images / Department of Statistics, Malaysia (DOSM)