KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 — Most Malaysians earn below RM3,500 a month — a gap the government aims to close by 2030.

To understand what that means, it helps to first look at a key but often misunderstood figure: the median wage.

What is the median wage?

The median wage is the middle point of all salaries.

If every worker’s pay is arranged from lowest to highest, the median is the figure right in the middle — meaning:

• Half of the workers earn less
• Half earn more

In Malaysia, the median monthly wage was around RM3,000 in 2025, making it a closer reflection of what a typical worker actually earns.

Why not use the average wage?

The average wage or mean is calculated by adding up all salaries and dividing by the number of workers.

But it can be distorted by a small number of high earners.

For instance, executives earning tens of thousands of ringgit a month can pull the average up, even if most workers earn far less. It tends to overstate what ordinary workers take home.

In contrast, the median cuts through that distortion, offering a more grounded benchmark.

Median vs minimum wage

The median wage serves a different role from the minimum wage:

• Minimum wage: the legal floor employers must pay
• Median wage: a snapshot of typical earnings

Raising the minimum wage helps the lowest-paid workers.

Raising the median wage, however, means lifting incomes across a much broader segment of the workforce.

Where Malaysia stands now

Official data shows wages are gradually rising.

According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia’s (DOSM) formal* sector wages dataset, which draws on administrative data from EPF, Socso and DOSM, and covers over six million employees, median wages have been trending upward:

• December 2022: RM2,764
• December 2023: RM2,900
• December 2024: RM3,045
• December 2025: RM3,167

* Formal workers refer to those who work under a contract of service or apprenticeship with an employer and receive remuneration for the work completed.

What the government is targeting

The push to raise wages is anchored in the Thirteenth Malaysia Plan (13MP), which sets a median salary and wage target of RM3,500 per month by 2030.

It was recently mentioned by Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri R. Ramanan during the recent national Labour Day celebration.

“By 2030, our targets are clear: the median monthly wage is to rise to RM3,500, and Compensation of Employees is projected to reach 40 per cent of GDP,” he said.

Ramanan said that the government will strengthen the National Wages Consultative Council, including setting starting salaries for graduates and TVET leavers to achieve the target.

The plan frames wage growth as part of a broader push to improve living standards, address the cost of living and ensure workers benefit more from economic growth.

“This is not an aspiration, it is a plan already being implemented,” Ramanan added in his speech.

In achieving the target, the government has also continued to raise the wage floor, with the Minimum Wage Order 2024 gazetted to increase the minimum wage to RM1,700 per month from RM1,500, effective February 1, 2025.

How Malaysia plans to reach a RM3,500 median wage

Unlike minimum wages, the median cannot be set by law.

Instead, the 13MP outlines a series of labour market reforms and structural changes aimed at pushing wages up across the board.

The plan frames labour market reform as key to this effort, aiming to create a more dynamic and competitive employment ecosystem that can generate more high-paying skilled jobs, improve productivity and support overall wage growth.

At the core is a strategy described as “holistic wage adjustment”, which focuses on raising pay across the wage distribution, and not only the minimum.

This includes:

• Periodic revisions of the minimum wage will take into account the living wage to ensure workers receive salaries that are commensurate with the cost of living. 
• Encouraging firms to pay more as workers become more skilled and productive
• Introducing structured wage ladders so workers can move up steadily
• Establishing benchmarks for graduates and TVET leavers to lift entry-level pay

Supporting reforms

The plan also highlights broader changes to support wage growth:

• Reducing reliance on low-wage foreign labour, pushing firms to automate and raise pay
• Fixing job-skill mismatches, so more workers can move into higher-paying roles
• Increasing workforce participation, especially among persons with disabilities, women and older workers

Together, these measures aim to improve job quality, which is a key driver of higher wages.