KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 12— A federal minister today explained that the RM5,900 average monthly household income that he said Malaysians have achieved was the mean figure, and not the median number.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar said he had made the distinction between the two statistical figures when he presented the number, but this was not included in the media coverage of the event.
“I was referring to the mean average household income when I spoke about the increase from RM5,000 to RM5,900.
“I distinguished the difference between the mean and median findings, but this was not reported,” he told reporters here.
Both statistical averages, mean is the aggregate value divided by the number of data points, while median refers to the value at the midway point of the set.
Last Sunday, Wahid was quoted by national news wire Bernama as saying that the average household income in the country has risen to over RM5,900 a month, a significant increase from the RM5,000 monthly average recorded in the 2012 HIS.
DAP lawmaker Steven Sim then accused Abdul Wahid of using the preliminary report to paint a “dishonest” picture of increased prosperity among Malaysians.
Today, Wahid said that the median household income for 2014 is RM4,258 compared to RM3,626 in 2012.
“Out of the 7 million total households in Malaysia, 3.5 million are earning above RM4,700 while 3.5 million are earning below RM4,700,” he explained.
“The survey is done carefully, taking into account the mean and median figures,” the minister added.
