SHAH ALAM, Dec 24 — Selangor and its capital Shah Alam have been named the most expensive places to live in Malaysia, according to the Cost of Living Indicators Report 2024 released by the Statistics Department (DOSM).
DOSM said the finding was based on the Basic Expenditure of Decent Living (PAKW) Index, a new indicator that measures the level of expenditure required to maintain a decent standard of living across different locations.
“The index was formulated using Kuala Lumpur as the reference point with a value of 100, with all other locations measured relative to this benchmark,” it said in a statement today.
“A lower index value indicates a lower level of expenditure required to maintain a decent standard of living compared to the reference value, while a higher index reflects a greater expenditure requirement.”
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said Selangor recorded the highest index among all states for households ranging from one to four persons, with scores of 92, 91.4, 92.4 and 91.3 index points, respectively, relative to Kuala Lumpur’s 100.
For single-person households, Penang recorded the second-highest index at 84.2, followed by Putrajaya at 83.1. The lowest expenditure levels were observed in Kelantan and Sarawak, both at 53.7, and Kedah at 56.6.
For four-person households, Putrajaya ranked second with an index of 84.7, while Melaka placed third at 83. In contrast, the lowest indices were recorded in Sabah (59.4), Kedah (60.5), and Perlis (60.9).
“Based on the PAKW Index analysis using Kuala Lumpur as the reference, the reasonable cost of living for a one-person household in Kelantan is much lower than Kuala Lumpur, which is 46.3 per cent lower.
“If a one-person household living in Kuala Lumpur spends RM1,000 on PAKW, it only needs RM537 on PAKW if it is in Kelantan.”
Among state capitals, Shah Alam consistently exceeded Kuala Lumpur’s reference level across all household sizes, with the PAKW Index ranging from 99.8 for single-person households to 100.3 for four-person households, underscoring its relatively high cost of living.
In contrast, Kangar in Perlis recorded the lowest scores, at just over half of Shah Alam’s cost, ranging from 58.8 to 59.2 index points.
Meanwhile, among administrative districts, Petaling in Selangor consistently recorded the highest PAKW Index nationwide, exceeding the Kuala Lumpur reference across all household sizes, with index values ranging from 103.3 for single-person households to 104.8 for two-person households.
“These findings demonstrate significant disparities in living costs across states, districts, and capitals, underscoring the importance of the PAKW Index in understanding regional differences in household expenditure and cost of living,” Uzir said.
Uzir said DOSM has updated the MyPAKW Calculator for 2024 to help Malaysians estimate PAKW tailored exclusively for each household.
It is accessible atthe MyPAKW site and will be available as a mobile app on the App Store and Google Play Store in February.
