malaysian households statistics

household statistics provide insights revealing how income, inequality, and poverty are distributed across a population.

number of households and living quarters, annually

for the latest five years of data

source: department of statistics malaysia (dosm)

the number of households and living quarters in malaysia shows a steady annual increase from 2020 to 2024, with households rising from 8.23 million to 9.10 million and living quarters from 9.61 million to 10.65 million.

number of households by state

as of the latest year of data, 2024

source: department of statistics malaysia (dosm)

selangor has the highest number of households at 2,073,199, significantly outpacing other states. notably, w.p. labuan has the lowest with only 26,700 households.

mean and median household income

for the latest ten years of data — some years are missing due to unavailable data

source: department of statistics malaysia (dosm)

household income in malaysia shows a steady increase from 2002 to 2022, with mean income peaking at rm 8,479 in 2022. a notable dip in mean income to rm 7,089 occurred in 2020, likely influenced by the mco lockdowns in march 2020.

mean and median household income by state

as of the latest year of data, 2022

source: department of statistics malaysia (dosm)

selangor and kuala lumpur exhibit the highest mean household incomes at rm12,233 and rm13,325, respectively, while kelantan shows the lowest at rm4,885. the data reflects significant income disparities across states.

absolute and relative poverty rate

for the latest ten years of data — years are not consecutive due to unavailable data

source: department of statistics malaysia (dosm)

the absolute poverty rate in malaysia saw a significant drop to 0.4% in 2016, but rose to 8.4% in 2020, likely influenced by the mco lockdowns in march 2020. the relative poverty rate remained relatively stable around 16% from 2016 to 2022.

absolute and relative poverty rate by state

as of the latest year of data, 2022

source: department of statistics malaysia (dosm)

sabah exhibits the highest absolute poverty rate at 19.7%, while w.p. putrajaya shows the lowest at 0.1%. the relative poverty rates vary significantly, with kelantan and sarawak at 12.2% and 16.2%, respectively.

gini coefficient

for the latest ten years of data — years are not consecutive due to unavailable data

source: department of statistics malaysia (dosm)

the gini coefficient shows a general decline from 0.443 in 1999 to 0.404 in 2022, indicating reduced income inequality. notable improvements occurred between 2014 and 2016, coinciding with economic policies aimed at addressing wealth disparity.

gini coefficient by state

as of the latest year of data, 2022

source: department of statistics malaysia (dosm)

the gini coefficient across malaysian states shows a range from 0.3 in labuan to 0.395 in sabah, indicating varying levels of income inequality. notably, pahang has the lowest inequality at 0.308.