Stats Dept: Bumiputera participation in high-growth sectors needs boost despite wage gains

PUTRAJAYA, July 6 — Bumiputera economic participation continues to improve, although there remains room to increase Bumiputera involvement in high-growth sectors to narrow the socio-economic gap, chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said.

He said data presented through the Bumiputera Data Analytics Dashboard, developed by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), showed that wages for both Bumiputera and non-Bumiputera workers generally recorded growth of more than five per cent.

However, he said the increase was influenced by population composition, with the average wage growth among Bumiputera appearing more moderate because it reflected a much larger population than that of non-Bumiputera.

“The Bumiputera population is much larger, so while some segments may be experiencing faster growth, the overall average is moderated by the size of the population,” he told reporters after launching the Bumiputera Data Analytics Dashboard at the Simfoni Data and Media special discourse here today.

The Bumiputera Data Analytics Dashboard was developed as a strategic monitoring platform to track and assess the current performance and progress of the Bumiputera empowerment agenda based on the key indicators outlined in the Bumiputera Economic Transformation Plan 2035 (PuTERA35).

Meanwhile, Mohd Uzir also introduced the subnational indicators portal, an interactive platform that consolidates the country’s official data to facilitate analysis and monitoring across various levels of administration.

He said the platform integrates data covering 1,998 administrative areas, comprising 16 states and federal territories, 160 districts, 222 parliamentary constituencies and about 600 state constituencies, enabling users to make location-based comparisons and analyses more efficiently.

The portal contains 22 official datasets across eight domains, namely demography, economy, education, labour, agriculture, environment, crime and electoral affairs. It is updated regularly and includes metadata to ensure transparency and consistency in data definitions.

“Our goal is to establish a single, trusted source of official data to support evidence-based decision-making, while helping the government and stakeholders formulate policies and development programmes more effectively,” he said. — Bernama