In a statement issued here today, it said the median monthly salary and wage of Malaysians last year rose by 6.5% to RM1,600 compared to RM1,500 in 2014.
The statistics were the findings of the Salary and Wage Survey conducted by the department this year through the household approach to obtain information on the monthly salaries and wages for paid employees in the public and private sectors from their principal occupation.
The survey, which was conducted with probability sampling, also found that the mean monthly salary and wage for male employees was RM2,345, which was higher than that of female employees at RM2,254.
However, the median monthly salary and wage for male and female employees was unchanged at RM1,600. The median monthly salary and wage for the men increased by 5.7% and 6.5% for women, compared to the previous year.
According to the survey report, the monthly salary and wage of employees with tertiary education was twice higher than that of employees with secondary school education in 2014 and 2015.
In 2015, the median monthly salary and wage of employees with tertiary education was RM3,100 compared to those with secondary school education at RM1,500, while the mean monthly salary and wage of employees with tertiary education was RM3,854 and secondary schooling at RM1,743.
Employees with primary education recorded median monthly salary and wage of RM1,100 and mean at RM1,224.
The monthly salaries and wages of employees in the urban areas were higher compared to that in the rural areas. However, in terms of growth, the figures were higher in the rural areas than in the urban areas.
According to the report, the median monthly salary and wage of employees in the urban areas rose 3.0% to RM1,855, while in the rural areas it grew by 8.7% to RM1,200.
The mean monthly salary and wage of employees also recorded an increase of 5.9% in the urban areas and 6.1% in the rural areas.
The report stated that the number of paid employees recorded in 2015 was 10.2 million.
The Salary and Wage Survey Report is an annual publication which presents the main indicators of salaries and wages which are the median and mean monthly, by demographic and socio-economic characteristics of sex, age group, educational attainment, highest certificate obtained, urban and rural strata, occupation and industry.
– BERNAMA