Malaysia's food sector is adding jobs even more quickly than the electronics cluster

The pace has even surpassed that of the country's flagship electronics industry, which was the largest contributor to overall employment between 2021 and 2023. The most high-profile investment has been seen in Penang and its semiconductor cluster. The non-metallic minerals sector has also been important for job growth recently.

The figures provide context to our recent regional visualization of Malaysian wages, which remain relatively low overall despite hotspots like Penang. Real wages in the manufacturing sector have failed to keep pace with inflation since 2021.

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