Data released by the statistics department today also revealed that mining and quarrying workers earned the highest monthly salary in 2022 at RM9,422, followed by manufacturing (RM3,513), services (RM3,493), construction (RM2,536), and agriculture (RM1,827).

Across the economy, skilled workers received the highest average monthly salary at RM6,967 in 2022, while semi-skilled and low-skilled workers received RM2,548 and RM1,798 respectively.

Semi-skilled workers made up the largest segment of the workforce, comprising 59.8% of full-time paid employees – equivalent to 5.2 million people.

Skilled workers and low-skilled workers accounted for 22.3% and 17.9% respectively of full-time paid employees.

The number of people engaged in micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) stood at 6.5 million people or roughly 65.2% of the total workforce, while large enterprises employed 3.5 million people, or around 34.8% of the total workforce.

Average monthly salaries and wages of employees in large enterprises stood at RM4,145 in 2022, roughly 47.5% more than the RM2,810 average in MSMEs.

“The salary and wage gap between MSMEs and large enterprises in Malaysia remains substantial, indicating a positive relationship between employee compensation, company size, and productivity,” said chief statistician Uzir Mahidin.

In terms of total salaries and wages paid, Selangor led in 2022 with a total of RM106 billion, followed by the federal territories with RM78.4 billion and Johor with RM39.3 billion. They collectively accounted for 62.6% of total national salaries and wages.