KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 — Malaysians spent an average of RM5,566 a month in 2024, with the biggest share of household expenditure going towards housing, utilities, and dining out, according to the latest Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
The survey was launched by Minister of Economy Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan in Putrajaya today.
“HIES is a key statistical instrument that’s used to measure socioeconomic progress of households.
“It’s one of the main sources for policy making in order to eradicate poverty, increase income and reduce the social gap between the rich and poor with regards to cost of living,” he said.
The data showed that housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels accounted for 23.5 per cent (RM1,307) of monthly spending — the largest portion of household budgets.
This was followed by restaurants and accommodation services (17.0 per cent or RM948) and food and beverages (15.7 per cent or RM876), underscoring a growing trend of dining out among Malaysians.
Transport remained another key expense, taking up 11 per cent (RM611) of monthly budgets, while spending on personal care and social protection came to 5.6 per cent (RM313).
DOSM said overall household spending grew at a compounded annual rate of 3.9 per cent compared to 2022, reflecting rising living costs and lifestyle changes as Malaysians continued to recover from the pandemic years.
Notably, spending on restaurants and hotels rose to 17.0 per cent, reflecting a growing preference for dining out, while at-home food expenditure slightly declined.
The survey also found that household consumption was increasingly supported by non-income sources, such as government assistance and self-produced goods.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s national absolute poverty incidence improved, falling from 6.2 per cent in 2022 to 5.1 per cent in 2024 — representing about 416,000 households.
Urban poverty fell to 3.7 per cent, while rural poverty dropped to 10.0 per cent.
The report also showed that the hardcore poverty rate – households earning below the Food Poverty Line Income (PLI) — decreased to just 0.09 per cent, or fewer than 8,000 households.
To enhance data transparency, DOSM announced it has developed a comprehensive online dashboard integrating statistics on income, expenditure, poverty, and inequality, enhanced with geospatial analytics to support evidence-based policymaking.
The public can access the full datasets and visualisations through the OpenDOSM NextGen platform at https://open.dosm.gov.my
Malay Mail – Malaysia
