Absolute poverty increased from 2019 to 2022, especially among urban households, rising to 4.5% in 2022 from 3.8% in 2019, according to a Khazanah Research Institute (KRI) report. In its report ‘The State of Households 2024: Households and the Pandemic 2019-2022’, KRI said that  Kuala Lumpur was the area with the highest household increases with 6,774 households, followed by Kuala Muda (5,229) and Kota Kinabalu (5,117).