PETALING JAYA: Selangor is the new high-income state as of July 2 according to World Bank Malaysia, says its lead economist Apurva Sanghi.
He said that the state meets the high income threshold of USD14,005 (RM66,026) by reaching a gross national income (GNI) per state capita of USD14,291 (RM67,374)
Four other states – Kuala Lumpur, Pulau Penang, Sarawak and Labuan – have met the threshold with Kuala Lumpur having the highest GNI per capita at USD29,967 (RM141,279).
Apurva then said that the country would reach high-income status by 2030.
He said in his post on X on July 4 that this projection is most affected by the exchange rate of ringgit to USD.
“Malaysia remains in the upper middle income bracket but will reach higher income by 2030 if the ringgit to USD exchange rate is maintained at around RM4.7 to 1 USD, if the average growth rate is 4% and the inflation constant near long-term rate is around 2%,” he said.
Apurva added that as of July, Malaysia’s GNI per capita is USD2,035 (RM9,594) short of the high income threshold but also said that high income does not necessarily equate to high development.
He refers to Sarawak which has a high-income status, but also has a high poverty rate of 10.8% according to 2022 data.
The World Bank clarifies that there are four income groupings, low, lower-middle, upper-middle and high.
“The income is measured by using gross national income (GNI) per capita, in U.S. dollars.” said its website.
The countries are categorised into groups on July 1 of each year, based on an estimate of its GNI per capita from the previous year.
