Looking to get a high-paying job? Find out which industries pay the highest in Malaysia.

Are you looking to learn which industries in Malaysia pay the highest? Is the finance industry with the promise of lucrative bonuses? Is it the professional industry where lawyers, accountants, engineers, and architects are in demand?

Find out below which industries pay the highest.

Our Data

This article will be utilising wages and salaries data published by the Department of Statistics Malaysia, where it details the salaries of workers in the various industries in Malaysia. The description of the industries is obtained from the Malaysian Standard Industrial Classification 2008 (MISC 2008).

#1: Education

Surprisingly, the education sector boasts the highest salaries in Malaysia, averaging about RM5,088 per month. This includes everyone working to provide education services in the pre-primary, primary, secondary, higher, and general and vocational education. This also includes people working in support roles such as educational consulting, counseling, testing evaluation, and student exchange programs.

Salaries of people working in the education industry grew at a rate of 5.0% yearly from 2015 to 2020, making it one of the fastest-growing industries in Malaysia. It is also the third biggest employer, employing about 856,000 workers in 2020.

If you have a passion for teaching or helping students fulfill their dreams, the education industry is definitely the industry to go for.

#2: Mining and Quarrying

As much as people have commented that the mining industry is on a decline, the industry pays the second-highest salaries in Malaysia. An employee can expect to get RM5,064 per month, where the industry focuses on extracting natural resources such as petroleum, natural gas, metal ores, stone, sand, and clay.

Salaries in this industry are still growing steadily at an annual rate of 3.3% from 2015 to 2020 but are definitely slower than other industries such as education, arts, and social work. It currently employs only about 71,000 workers, much lower than its peak of about 100,000 workers in 2016.

#3: Information and Communication

The information and communication industry comes in at third place, generating an average salary of RM4,310 per month. This industry provides jobs such as publishing, motion picture, video, and television production, sound recording, music publishing, broadcasting and programming activities, telecommunications, computer programming, consultancy, and other information services.

Similar to the mining industry, salaries for people working in the information and communication industry have been growing at only 3.1% on average every year from 2015 to 2020. It employs about 186,000 workers in Malaysia, making it the sixth biggest industry in terms of employment.

#4: Financial, Insurance, Takaful

The finance, insurance, and Takaful industry provides the fourth-highest salary, averaging RM4,221 per month for one worker. This includes anyone working in the financial jobs where they provide financial, insurance, takaful, and pension fund services to the masses. Think of people working at banks such as Maybank and CIMB or at insurance companies such as AIA and Great Eastern.

Salaries in this industry grew steadily from 2015 to 2020, averaging a growth rate of 3.8% per year. It is the 10th biggest employer by industry, where it has about 327,000 workers in 2020. You would most often find cities or urban areas having a higher proportion of people working in this industry.

#5: Public Administration and Defense, Social Security

The long-held perception of government servants having low pay is not true. Coming in at number 5, people working in government earn about RM4,146 per month and are responsible for the enactment and interpretation of laws and regulations. They also administer government programs in the legislative, taxation, national defense, public order and safety, immigration, foreign affairs, and social security sectors.

Surprisingly enough, the pay in government is increasing at a strong rate of 5.3% every year from 2015 to 2020, making the case of working for government much more attractive considering the benefits that come with it. In Malaysia, it is the fifth biggest industry, employing close to 724,000 workers in 2020.

#6: Human Health and Social Work

Surprisingly, workers in the healthcare industry do not get the highest pay. The human health and social work industry workers are paid about RM4,077 per month. In the human health industry, this includes work in hospitals, specialty medicine, medical nursing homes, mental hospital institutions, rehabilitation centres, and other facilities that provide diagnosis and medical treatment to patients. Social work involves providing services such as counseling, welfare, and guidance to the elderly, disabled, refugees, and other disadvantaged groups of people.

Wages in this industry grew the fastest among every other industry, averaging around 6.0% yearly from 2015 to 2020. It is the 9th biggest industry, nearly doubling from 237,000 workers in 2010 to 432,000 workers in 2020.

#7: Professional, Scientific, and Technical

Coming in at number 7, the professional, scientific, and technical industry pays an average salary of RM3,959 per month. This industry includes jobs in the following fields:

  1. Legal and Accounting
  2. Management Consultancy
  3. Architectural and Engineering
  4. Scientific Research and Development
  5. Advertising and Market Research
  6. Veterinary
  7. Other activities

It is certainly surprising to see that this industry only ranks at number 7 considering our society’s expectation for youngsters to be lawyers, accountants, engineers, and architects. Salaries in the industry have also not grown that much, averaging 3.5% per year from 2015 to 2020.

#8: Electricity, Gas, Steam and Air Conditioning Supply

Technicians working to supply, distribute and operate electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning come in at number 8, earning an average salary of RM3,596 per month. These jobs could range from working at houses or factories to electric and gas lines.

Working in this industry is considered risky when compared to the other industries, and salaries are only growing by an average of 4.6% yearly from 2015 to 2020. The amount of people working in this industry is also among the lowest at about 66,000 in 2020.

#9: Real Estate

Gone are the days when property is the hottest industry in town. People working in the real estate industry across the country now earn only about RM3,570 per month, putting them at the number 9 spot. This includes lessors, agents, and brokers that sell, buy, rent, manage and appraise real estate.

It is the only industry in the list where salaries have actually declined from RM3,855 per month in 2015 to RM3,570 now. Part of it is due to the pandemic impact on the real estate sector where business activities plummeted. In 2019, the real estate industry has the second-highest pay at RM5,775 per year after the mining and quarrying industry.

#10: Arts, Entertainment and Recreation

Artists, rejoice. The arts, entertainment, and recreation industry is the second-fastest-growing industry in salary (5.9% average growth from 2015 to 2020) after the human health and social work industry. The industry pays an average salary of RM2,665 per month which employs workers in:

  1. Creative, Arts and Entertainment Activities
  2. Libraries, Archives, Museums
  3. Sports, Amusement and Recreation Activities

While the pay is still considered low when compared to other industries, you can still support yourself in doing activities that explore your creative aspect.

Conclusion

If you are having trouble choosing which industry to go into, you can use this as a guide to explore which industry will provide you with the highest financial pay. While you certainly should not base your decision on just the pay, it is a good starting point to understand the various industries in Malaysia.

 

Let us know in the comments below which industry you are looking to get into!

You May Also Like