An overview on the incidence of poverty in Sabah

Abstract

Over the last decade, Sabah was one of the fastest growing states in Malaysia having recorded an average annual growth rate of GDP of 9.4% (between 1972 and 1980) compared with the national average of 8.1% over the same period (Fourth Malaysia Plan). As such, Sabah's per capita GDP increased from M$1,302.9 in 1971 to M$1,847 in 1980 compared with the national per capita GDP. of M$1,172.2 and M$1,836 respectively for the same years. Even the poor, according to the official statistics, seems to have benefited from this rapid growth. The number of poor households in Sabah is said to have declined from 58.3% in 1976 to 29.9% in 1982 (Mid Term Review of the FMP) compared to 35.1% in 1976 and 30.3% in 1983 in Peninsular Malaysia. However, a closer examination of the official statistics reveals several shortcomings which put its reliability into question. Among the shortcomings in the statistics used in the Malaysia Plan, the most obvious lies in the fact that the statistics do not reveal the income level used by the government to determine who are the poor. Only the incidence of poverty or poverty rates are given and these can never be verified without knowing the poverty line used.