What is the minimum civil service salary in Malaysia?

RM1,500 a month at grade 1, base pay. The highest figure in the schedule is RM37,460 for the VU1 post, the Chief Secretary to the Government.

What is DG41 called now?

DG9. Since 1 December 2024 under the SSPA system, the grade numbers got smaller but the scheme letters stayed: DG41 is now DG9, N19 is now N1, and W22 is now W2. The old SSM figures are no longer valid.

Why can a higher grade have a lower minimum salary?

Because the salary ranges of the grades overlap. Grade 3 has a minimum of RM2,790 while the higher grade 5 has a minimum of RM1,650. That means a newly promoted officer on a higher grade can earn less than a long-serving officer on a lower grade, so don't rank grades by their minimum salary.

Has the SSPA Phase 2 salary schedule been published?

No. The Phase 2 rise took effect on 1 January 2026 — 7% for the Implementing and Management & Professional groups, and 3% for the Top Management group — but JPA did not publish a new salary schedule. The rise is calculated on each person's base pay as of 31 December 2025. Any site showing a tidy Phase 2 salary table is inventing a schedule JPA itself never released.

Civil service salary scale in Malaysia (2026): the full SSPA table by grade

Civil servant pay starts at RM1,500 at grade 1 and rises to RM37,460 at the top grade — the official SSPA schedule, straight from JPA circulars.

The kerjaya team·19 July 2026·Updated 2026-07-20·4 min read

Malaysian civil service pay range under SSPA: RM1,500 to RM37,460 a month

Civil servant pay in Malaysia starts at RM1,500 a month at grade 1, and rises to RM37,460 for the top post in the public service (VU1, the Chief Secretary to the Government).

The tables below are from official JPA circulars, and we've cross-checked them against the Ministry of Finance's Budget 2026 schedule. The two match.

Want to work out the gross pay of another post, with allowances? Use our government salary calculator.

The new system: SSPA replaces SSM

On 1 December 2024, SSPA (the Public Service Remuneration System) replaced SSM (the Malaysian Remuneration System) that had been in use since 2002.

Two things get misread most often:

1. The grade numbers got smaller, but the letters stayed. Grade DG41 is now DG9. N19 is now N1. W22 is now W2. It doesn't become a bare number like "9" — the scheme letters stay in front.

2. The old SSM figures are no longer valid. If you come across a table quoting "Grade 41" with a salary figure, that's the old system, abolished more than a year ago.

SSPA salary schedule by grade

Management & Professional Group

Grade	Minimum	Maximum	Annual increment (KGT)
15	RM7,030	RM16,350	RM400
14	RM6,560	RM15,360	RM320
13	RM6,210	RM14,370	RM290
12	RM5,530	RM13,540	RM270
10	RM3,840	RM12,150	RM250
9	RM2,250	RM11,110	RM225

Implementing Group

Grade	Minimum	Maximum	Annual increment (KGT)
8	RM5,390	RM10,590	RM225
7	RM3,810	RM9,290	RM180
5	RM1,650	RM6,620	RM145
3	RM2,790	RM6,090	RM125
1	RM1,500	RM4,680	RM100

Source: JPA, Service Circular 1/2024, Appendix D. In force from 1 December 2024.

The confusing part: the grade ranges overlap

Look at the Implementing Group table above — there's something odd.

Grade 3 has a minimum of RM2,790. Grade 5, which is higher, has a minimum of RM1,650 — lower. That's not a typo.

The salary range of each grade overlaps with the others. That means a higher-grade officer who was just promoted can earn less than a lower-grade officer who has served for years.

So don't rank the grades by their minimum salary and assume that's the order of seniority. That's not how it works.

Grade 3 has a minimum salary of RM2,790 while the higher grade 5 has a lower minimum of RM1,650, because the grade ranges overlap — The higher grade starts lower. The ranges overlap, so grade order is not pay order.

Starting salary differs from the grade minimum

The minimum in the table is the lowest salary for that grade — not the amount you receive on day one.

The starting salary is set in each service scheme, and is usually higher than that figure. For example:

Teacher (DG5): grade minimum RM1,650, but a starting salary of RM1,893 or RM1,974
Nurse (U5): starting salary RM1,974
Medical Officer (UD9): starting salary RM3,130
Administrative Assistant (N1): starting salary RM1,500
Engineer (J9): starting salary RM2,690

Each link above takes you to the full breakdown for that grade: base pay, fixed allowances, and the real gross that lands in your account.

What we don't know

This schedule is base pay only — it doesn't include the housing allowance, regional allowance or incentive payments, which can add meaningfully to your gross.
Police and army pay is not in this circular. The PDRM uses a separate circular (PP Bil. 3 of 2024) that we can't access directly. We won't publish police salary figures until we can confirm them from the original source — some other sites post figures we can't trace to any official document.
The Phase 2 rise took effect on 1 January 2026: +7% for the Implementing and Management & Professional groups, +3% for the Top Management group. Important: JPA did not publish a new salary schedule for Phase 2 — the rise is calculated on each person's base pay (their actual pay as of 31 December 2025). So any site showing a tidy "Phase 2 salary table" is inventing a schedule JPA itself never released. Allowances did not rise 7% — they are fixed rates.

Common questions

What is the minimum civil service salary in Malaysia?: RM1,500 a month at grade 1, base pay. The highest figure in the schedule is RM37,460 for the VU1 post, the Chief Secretary to the Government.
What is DG41 called now?: DG9. Since 1 December 2024 under the SSPA system, the grade numbers got smaller but the scheme letters stayed: DG41 is now DG9, N19 is now N1, and W22 is now W2. The old SSM figures are no longer valid.
Why can a higher grade have a lower minimum salary?: Because the salary ranges of the grades overlap. Grade 3 has a minimum of RM2,790 while the higher grade 5 has a minimum of RM1,650. That means a newly promoted officer on a higher grade can earn less than a long-serving officer on a lower grade, so don't rank grades by their minimum salary.
Has the SSPA Phase 2 salary schedule been published?: No. The Phase 2 rise took effect on 1 January 2026 — 7% for the Implementing and Management & Professional groups, and 3% for the Top Management group — but JPA did not publish a new salary schedule. The rise is calculated on each person's base pay as of 31 December 2025. Any site showing a tidy Phase 2 salary table is inventing a schedule JPA itself never released.

Where these numbers come from

Every figure on this page is traceable to a primary source. If we could not verify something, we say so.

JPA — Service Circular No. 1 of 2024 (SSPA), Appendix DPublic Service Department, PP Bil. 1/2024, Appendix D (minimum–maximum salary schedule)https://docs.jpa.gov.my/docs/sspa/SSPA_LAMPIRAN_D.pdf
Ministry of Finance — Budget 2026, Appendix AMOF, Budget 2026, Appendix A (SSPA salary schedule)https://belanjawan.mof.gov.my/pdf/belanjawan2026/sp/LAMPIRAN-A.pdf

How these numbers were checked

Written and checked by The kerjaya team. Last checked against official sources: 20 July 2026.

The key figures in this article were checked against JPA — Service Circular No. 1 of 2024 (SSPA), Appendix D and Ministry of Finance — Budget 2026, Appendix A.

How we choose, check and update our numbers →

Get new salary guides by email

Our newsletter hasn't started yet. Leave your email and you'll be among the first to get it — sourced salary and career guides, free, and you can stop any time.