[citation needed] Malaysia's total population is 31 million as of 2015, of which 0.6% live below the national poverty line.
[2] After the 13 May Incident in 1969, where racial rioting broke out in the federal capital of Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian New Economic Policy (NEP) was initiated.
Its purpose was to narrow the disparities in wealth between the Malay and non-Malay communities in the country through aggressive affirmative action and state intervention in the economy.
If the number of the handicapped, disabled and elderly who received welfare support from the government is excluded, the incidence of poverty in 2002 is estimated at 4.5 percent.
[8] By 2022, Malaysia government has revised the absolute poverty rate to 6.2% based on the monthly household PLI of RM 2589.