Malaysia's Disposable income rises nationwide to RM7,584

 

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s average disposable household income rose by 3.2% to RM7,584 in 2024, according to the latest Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2024 Report.

“In terms of disposable income, the average monthly disposable household income increased by 3.2% to RM7,584 in 2024, while the median rose 5.1% to RM5,999. This represents 82.8% of total gross household income, indicating households’ ability to meet essential expenditure needs,” the report stated.

The report also highlighted that this rise in disposable income was accompanied by a gradual improvement in income distribution.

“Households in the Bottom 40 (B40) group, comprising 3.28 million households, had income of up to RM5,858,” according to the report, which was released yesterday.  

The report comprises 33 official statistical publications, presenting comprehensive findings and analyses of the country’s socioeconomic landscape from the perspective of household income and expenditure.

It also noted that the median household income in Malaysia reached RM7,017 in 2024, growing by 5.1% annually, while the mean household income rose by 3.8% to RM9,155.

Income growth varied by state, reflecting diverse economic conditions, the report added.

Six states recorded median household incomes above the national level, with Kuala Lumpur at RM10,802, followed by Putrajaya (RM10,769), Selangor (RM10,726), Johor (RM7,712), Penang (RM7,386) and Labuan (RM7,383).

“Penang recorded the highest annual growth rate at 6.4% between 2022 and 2024,” the report stated.

The report also noted that the B40 group’s share of total national income rose slightly to 16.7%, up from 16.3% in 2022.

In contrast, the Top 20% (T20), who earned RM12,680 and above per month, saw their share decline to 45.1%, down from 46.3%. The Middle 40% (M40), earning between RM5,860 and RM12,679, made up a significant portion of the remaining income share.

At the event, Economy Minister Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan described HIES in his keynote address as a vital statistical instrument for measuring progress and improving the socio-economic status of Malaysian households.

“It is one of the main sources for shaping the country’s socio-economic and social policies, including poverty eradication programmes, increasing income, reducing income inequality, and addressing the cost of living,” he explained.

Amir Hamzah added that Malaysia has achieved a major milestone, with hardcore poverty nearly eradicated and reduced to just 0.09%.

“This reflects the effectiveness of various initiatives to increase people’s income, empower urban communities economically, and enhance public well-being, all of which will be continued by the government,” he said.

The Gini coefficient improved to 0.390 in 2024, compared to 0.404 in 2022, signalling a narrowing of income inequality.

The national absolute poverty incidence decreased from 6.2% in 2022 to 5.1% in 2024, representing about 416,000 households.

“Poverty in urban areas declined to 3.7%, while poverty in rural areas improved to 12%,” the report noted.

“The hardcore poverty incidence dropped to 0.09%, equivalent to fewer than 8,000 households earning below the Food Poverty Line Income (PLI),” it added

Experts: Rising cost of living dampens income gains

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 — According to the Statistics Department (DOSM), the average monthly disposable household income increased by 3.2% to RM7,584 in 2024, while the .

China on path to become world's No. 2 wealthiest country

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BEIJING, Oct. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- China is expected to replace Japan as the world's second-wealthiest country after the United States with total fortune shooting to nearly US$40 trillion by 2016, Credit Suisse AG said in a report yesterday.

However, the accumulation of fortune will be achieved along with an expanding wealth gap in China where the Gini coefficient, a commonly used measure of inequality of wealth, has already passed an extremely dangerous level.

China, which has surpassed Japan as the world's second-biggest economy, will soon also catch up with the neighbor in terms of total wealth.

Overall wealth at the hands of Chinese mainland people is projected to reach US$39 trillion in the next five years, the firm said in its annual Global Wealth Report.

China now has a total wealth of US$20 trillion, third in the world behind only the US and Japan but ahead of France, according to the report, which analyzes the wealth distribution in more than 200 countries.

Total fortune in China increased by US$4 trillion from January 2010 to June this year and is the second-highest contributor of global wealth growth after the US, the report said.

Wealth per adult in China has more than tripled from US$6,000 in 2000 to US$21,000 this year, according to the report.

The report downplayed overall wealth inequality in China, saying it remains moderate with 37 percent of the adult population lying in the middle segment of the wealth pyramid with a fortune of US$10,000 to US$100,000 per adult, while 5.8 percent of the adult population falls below US$1,000 and 2.3 percent above US$100,000 each.

China had a population of nearly 1.34 billion by late last year, according to the country's latest census, with about 70 percent of the population aged between 15 and 59.



With the increasing wealth of successful entrepreneurs, professionals and investors, inequality has been rising strongly, the report cautioned. So far this year, China has gained more than a million millionaires for the first time and now has more than 5,000 ultra-high net worth individuals with average fortunes above US$50 million, behind only the US, the report said.

The Gini coefficient in China reached 0.5 last year after hitting the recognized warning level of 0.4 more than 10 years ago, according to a report by Xinhua news agency in May last year. Developed European nations and Canada tend to have Gini indices between 0.24 and 0.36.

A low Gini coefficient indicates a more equal distribution, with 0 corresponding to complete equality, while higher Gini coefficients indicate more unequal distribution, with 1 corresponding to complete inequality.

China is nowhere to be found in the list of top 10 countries with the highest average wealth per adult. Using that scale, Switzerland, Australia and Norway are the three richest nations in the world, with Switzerland recording average wealth per adult at US$540,010 - the only country to exceed half a million dollars.

China currently possesses total wealth of US$20 trillion, ranked third in the world behind the US and Japan and ahead of France.

The reported also mentioned that the Asia-Pacific region has emerged as the key contributor to the growth of global wealth, accounting for 36% of global wealth generation since 2000 and 54% since 2010.

Total household wealth in the region increased 23% from January 2010 to June 2011, contrasting with the 9.2% and 4.8% growth in North America and Europe over the same period respectively.