Number Of Graduates Rises To 5 98 Million In 2024 Unemployment Rate Dips To 3 2pc

---

 
Malaysia’s graduate population rose to 5.98 million in 2024, with unemployment down to 3.2 per cent, as 5.14 million joined the labour force with a participation rate of 86 per cent, DOSM reported. — Picture by Miera ZulyanaPUTRAJAYA, Nov 1 — The number of graduates increased to 5.98 million in 2024, with the unemployment rate declining to 3.2 per cent, in line with strong labour market growth, according to the 2024 Graduate Statistics released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) today.

Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the positive economic and labour market environment throughout 2024 contributed to the increase, with graduates accounting for 22.3 per cent of the working-age population aged 15 years and above.
“Of this total, 5.14 million were active in the labour force, resulting in a high Graduate Labour Force Participation Rate (GLFPR) of 86.0 per cent.
“Degree holders accounted for 54.9 per cent (3.28 million persons), while diploma holders represented 45.1 per cent (2.70 million persons).
“Year-on-year, the number of degree graduates in the labour force rose by 5.4 per cent, while diploma holders increased by 3.2 per cent, driven by better job opportunities and lower unemployment rates,” he said in a statement.
In line with the Madani Government’s commitment to strengthening graduate employability, Mohd Uzir said various initiatives have been introduced under Budget 2024, including access to up to RM2 billion from the HRD Corporation levy to finance new graduates’ salaries and the continuation of proven programmes such as the MySTEP Graduate Training and Placement Scheme.
Other initiatives include the Graduate Entrepreneur Academy (PUSh), the e-Latih Programme offering free online courses, the Graduate Apprenticeship Programme, the Graduate Innovation Fund, and the MyNext Graduate Employability Grant (MyNext-GEG) by TalentCorp.
“These initiatives reflect the government’s continuous efforts in empowering a high-knowledge workforce, in line with the nation’s aspiration towards a high-income and innovation-driven economy,” he said.
In 2024, the number of employed graduates grew by 4.6 per cent to 4.98 million compared to 4.76 million in 2023, with about two-thirds (67.8 per cent) in the skilled category, mostly as professionals (57.2 per cent), followed by technicians and associate professionals (24.4 per cent) and managers (18.4 per cent).
“Graduates in the semi-skilled category made up 31.0 per cent (1.54 million persons), while those in the low-skilled category accounted for only 1.2 per cent (57,500 persons). Employment among skilled and semi-skilled graduates each recorded positive growth of 5.0 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively, while the low-skilled category increased by 11.0 per cent,” he said.
Employees formed the largest share of employed graduates at 86.4 per cent or 4.30 million persons in 2024, followed by employers (5.6 per cent; 277,600 persons) and self-employed graduates (7.2 per cent; 360,500 persons).
By sector, the majority of employed graduates were in services (77.6 per cent; 3.86 million persons), followed by manufacturing (13.4 per cent; 667,300 persons) and construction (6.3 per cent; 313,100 persons), with the remainder in agriculture (1.7 per cent) and mining and quarrying (1.0 per cent).
Skill-related underemployment fell to 32.2 per cent in 2024, with 1.60 million graduates employed below their qualifications — an improvement compared to countries such as South Korea (36.8 per cent), Indonesia (42.2 per cent) and the Philippines (56.7 per cent).
Although Malaysia still trails advanced economies such as the United Kingdom (28.5 per cent), the United States (27.3 per cent) and Australia (27.5 per cent), Mohd Uzir said the downward trend indicated potential for further improvement.
He added that the Female Graduate Labour Force Participation Rate (GLFPR) stood at 83.4 per cent — higher than the national Female Labour Force Participation Rate of 56.2 per cent.
Graduate salaries also continued to rise in 2024, with the median monthly salary and wage increasing by 2.5 per cent to RM4,521 (2023: RM4,409), while the mean salary rose by 8.1 per cent to RM5,330 (2023: RM4,933).
“All states recorded positive growth in both median and mean monthly graduate salaries in 2024 compared to the previous year. The three states with the highest median graduate salaries were Kuala Lumpur (RM5,888), followed by Putrajaya (RM5,723) and Selangor (RM5,207),” he said.
Graduate unemployment declined by 0.2 percentage points to 3.2 per cent compared to 3.4 per cent in 2023, with the number of unemployed graduates falling by 0.8 per cent to 165,900 in 2024.
A more positive trend was observed among active job-seeking graduates, with 61.1 per cent securing employment within three months.
“Moving forward, efforts to align the education system with labour market demands and to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based learning tools will ensure that future graduates are well-prepared to contribute to Malaysia’s sustainable and innovation-driven economic growth,” he added. — Bernama

---