Median monthly household income of Malaysians rose to RM5,228 in 2016

PETALING JAYA: The median monthly household income of Malaysians increased to RM5,228 in 2016 compared with RM4,585 in 2014, representing 6.6% growth a year at nominal value, according to a survey by the Department of Statistics Malaysia.

Despite the rise in household income, the mean monthly household consumption expenditure of Malaysians rose 6% a year at nominal value from RM3,578 in 2014 to RM4,033 in 2016.

The Household Income and Basic Amenities Survey was conducted between May 2016 and April 2017, using probability samples that represent all Malaysian households.

The median monthly household income in urban areas increased 6.4% a year from RM5,156 in 2014 to RM5,860 in 2016, while that for rural areas increased at 5.3% a year from RM3,123 to RM3,471.

The median income of the bottom 40% (B40), middle 40% (M40) and top 20% (T20) rose in 2016 compared with 2014, with the M40 registering the highest growth of 6.9% a year, followed by B40 (6.6%) and T20 (6.2%).

Kuala Lumpur recorded the highest median monthly household income of RM9,073 followed by Putrajaya (RM8,275), Selangor (RM7,225), Labuan (RM5,928), Johor (RM5,652), Malacca (RM5,588) and Penang (RM5,409).

Other states recorded median incomes that were below the national level of RM5,228.

Meanwhile, the mean monthly household income of Malaysians rose 6.2% in nominal value from RM6,141 in 2014 to RM6,958 in 2016. The urban area segment grew 5.8% annually from RM6,833 to RM7,671 in the period of 2014 to 2016. For rural areas, it rose 6.5% yearly from RM3,831 to RM4,359.

The M40 group recorded the highest annual growth rate of 6.9% from RM5,662 in 2014 to RM6,502 in 2016.

The Gini Coefficient, which measures income equality, declined to 0.399 from 0.401 in 2014, indicating an improvement in the Malaysian household income distribution.

On the expenditure side, housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels (24.0%) were the highest contributor to the overall household consumption expenditure in 2016, followed by food & non-alcoholic beverages (18%); transportation (13.7%); and restaurants & hotels (13.4%).

The urban mean monthly household consumption expenditure showed an increment of 5.8% yearly from RM3,921 to RM4,402, while rural increased at 5.7% annually from RM2,431 to RM2,725 during the period of 2014 to 2016.

In 2016, Putrajaya recorded the highest mean monthly household consumption expenditure (RM6,971), followed by Kuala Lumpur (RM6,214), Selangor (RM5,183), Malacca (RM4,374), Penang (RM4,190), Johor (RM4,148) and Labuan (RM4,069).

Other states recorded the mean monthly household consumption expenditure below the national level of RM4,033.

Nonetheless, all states recorded a rise in the mean monthly household consumption expenditure.

The Household Expenditure Survey was conducted in 2016 through personal interviews.