Amir said this means there are fewer than 8,000 households nationwide still categorised as hardcore poor.

“This shows that the various government initiatives to increase household income and economically empower urban communities have been effective,” he said at the launch of the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2024 here today.

He said the absolute poverty rate had also declined to 5.1%, compared with 6.2% in 2022.

Last year, the food poverty line income, used to determine the hardcore poverty threshold, was set at RM1,236. It currently stands at RM2,705.

Amir said HIES 2024 showed that Sabah recorded the highest incidence of absolute poverty at 17.7%, followed by Kelantan (11.5%) and Sarawak (8.4%).

Rural areas also recorded a higher rate of absolute poverty with 9.9% compared to 3.7% in urban areas.

Separately, the mean household income, currently at RM9,155, grew by 3.8% annually from 2022 to 2024.

The median household income, now at RM7,017, rose by 5.1% over the same period.

Amir said HIES 2024 also found that six states recorded median household income above the national level – Kuala Lumpur (RM10,802), Putrajaya (RM10,769), Selangor (RM10,726), Johor (RM7,712), Penang (RM7,386) and Labuan (RM7,383).

The average monthly disposable household income rose by 3.2% to RM7,584, while the median disposable household income rose 5.1% to RM5,999.

The latest findings showed that the B40 group comprised 3.28 million households with income of up to RM5,829, while the income for M40 group, which comprised 3.28 million households, ranged from RM5,860 to RM12,679.

The T20 group consisted of 1.64 million households with income above RM12,680. They had 45.1% of the total income share, a slight decline compared to 46.3% in 2022.

The survey also found that household expenditure increased by 3.9% annually to RM5,566.

Major expenses were housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (23.5%); restaurants and hotels (17%), food and non-alcoholic beverages (15.7%) and transport (11%).

Amir said the Gini coefficient, which measures income or wealth inequality within a nation, declined from 0.404 in 2022 to 0.39 in 2024.

“This indicates that the income gap between high- and low-income groups has narrowed,” he said.

“I believe the government’s efforts to reduce income disparities and raise wages are producing results.”