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Malaysia is well on its way to achieving high-income nation status by 2028, according to the World Bank's Lead Economist for Malaysia Apurva Sanghi
In an X post today, 11 July, Apurva shared an update that Malaysia is on track to achieve high-income nation status, with the current gross national income (GNI) per capita standing at RM53,400.
The economist said a country must have a GNI per capita of at least RM63,800 to qualify as a high-income nation.
Malaysia is about 16.3% away from hitting the high-income mark.
We (World Bank) just released our latest high income data
— Apurva Sanghi (@ApurvaSanghi) July 11, 2025
1. Malaysia's quest to attain high income remains
2. M'sia GNI pc of RM 53.4k < high income threshold of RM 63.8k
3. Only 5 states/FTs > high income threshold: KL, Labuan, Penang, S'wak, Selangor pic.twitter.com/CsJ5U0v8dB
"Using the latest GNI per capita data 2024, five states [and territories] have reached high-income status, but Malaysia as a whole has not," read an infographic shared by Apurva
The five high-income states and territories are:
- Kuala Lumpur: RM135,800
- Labuan: RM86,700
- Penang: RM75,700
- Sarawak: RM73,100
- Selangor: RM65,600
Here are the states below the threshold:
- Negeri Sembilan: RM53,100
- Malacca: RM51,100
- Johor: RM45,100
- Terengganu: RM42,300
- Pahang: RM41,000
- Perak: RM34,300
- Sabah: RM33,200
- Kedah: RM27,200
- Perlis: RM24,600
- Kelantan: RM17,300
This is not the first time Apurva has made such a statement, but his latest post on X includes updated figures adjusted for current economic trends
In October last year, he said the high-income threshold stood at USD14,005 (about RM60,000 at the time).
It has since increased slightly to about USD14,900 (RM63,800).
Malaysia is currently classified as an upper-income nation, a status it has held since 1980.
