## Malaysia: Selected Issues

_IMF Staff Country Reports, March 7, 2018_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Malaysia: Selected Issues](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/cr/issues/2018/03/07/malaysia-selected-issues-45678)

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- [Markdown version](/en/publications/cr/issues/2018/03/07/malaysia-selected-issues-45678/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/publications/cr/issues/2018/03/07/malaysia-selected-issues-45678/index.json)
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## Bibliographic details
- Published: March 7, 2018
- Series: IMF Staff Country Reports
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781484345092.002

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### Overview
- Presents an overview of the Malaysian labor market and its evolution over the last three decades.
- Highlights Malaysia’s ongoing economic transformation and ambition to achieve high-income status.
- Emphasizes the need for a labor market that can support more female workers, more skilled jobs, and higher labor productivity growth.

### Major findings
- The labor market is now more urban.
- The labor market has a higher share of female workers.
- The labor market has a higher share of workers with tertiary education.
- Employment has kept pace with labor supply, keeping the unemployment rate stable for more than a decade.
- Reliance on noncitizen workers has increased against the backdrop of slower growth in citizen population.

### Policy implications and priorities
- Facilitate increased female labor force participation to support the economy’s transformation toward high-income status.
- Promote creation of more skilled jobs aligned with higher labor productivity growth.
- Address the rising reliance on noncitizen workers in the context of slower citizen population growth through labor market and migration policies.
- Ensure that employment growth continues to match labor supply to maintain stable unemployment.

### Key statistics and publication identifiers (as reported)
- Publication date: March 7, 2018
- Pages: 27

*Malaysia: Selected Issues (IMF Staff Country Reports).*

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## Content in this bundle

- **Country Report**
  - [Country Report (Markdown version)](/-/media/files/publications/cr/2018/cr1862.pdf.md){rel="alternate" type="text/markdown"}
  - [Country Report (PDF)](/-/media/files/publications/cr/2018/cr1862.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"}

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/cr/issues/2018/03/07/malaysia-selected-issues-45678_