Over 1.2 million Malaysians still living in poverty: Minister

PETALING JAYA - Over 1.2 million Malaysians are still living in poverty, said a minister citing survey data.

Datuk Mustapha Sakmud, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department for Sabah and Sarawak Affairs, said data from the House­hold Income Survey showed that as at Dec 31, 2025, a total of 1,204,995 Malaysians, including 247,062 heads of household, were categorised as living in poverty.

Currently, Malaysia’s population is estimated at 34.3 million as at November 2025, according to the Statistics Department.

Datuk Mustapha said Sabah recorded the highest number of poor people at 254,303, followed by Kelantan (239,850) and Terengganu (117,159).

Other states were Sarawak (103,968), Kedah (91,768), Perak (79,455), Selangor (65,177), Pahang (47,837), Penang (44,852), Perlis (40,620) and Johor (39,022).

States with lower numbers were Negeri Sembilan (29,591), Melaka (25,647), as well as the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur (17,885), Labuan (7,786) and Putrajaya (75).

Mr Mustapha said no Malaysians were categorised as living in hardcore poverty.

“The categorisation of poverty depends on household per capita income and is based on a calculation formula provided by the Economy Ministry.

“Meanwhile, hardcore poverty status is determined based on the current Poverty Line Income, which is periodically revised to reflect changes in the cost of living, food prices, inflation rate and location-specific costs.

“The government recognises that poverty measurement cannot be considered static and must be continuously reviewed according to ongoing context,” he said in a parliamentary written reply dated Jan 29.

Mr Mustapha was responding to a question from Jeli MP Zahari Kechik on the current number of poor and hardcore poor households listed under national poverty databank eKasih and the government’s initiatives to eradicate hardcore poverty. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK