Sabah Steadily Eradicating Hardcore Poverty

Sabah has 10,825 Poor Household Heads (Ketua Isi Rumah or (KIR) in January 2026. By May 2026, the number of hardcore poor KIR has been reduced by 100 per cent. Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor said that Sabah has successfully achieved zero hardcore poor KIR through the implementation of various assistance interventions carried out in an integrated manner by the State and Federal Governments.

The government believes that data-driven approach, coordination of assistance through the Sabah State Database System (Pangkalan Data Negeri Sabah or PADANS) and eKasih, and the implementation of targeted aid interventions, have successfully and significantly brought changes to the target groups.

“However, we know that there are still more to be done. We have 57,710 household heads who are still categorised as poor although we have reduced it within four months, from 70,298, a reduction of 18 per cent.” Hajiji said at the launch of the Sentuhan Kasih Rakyat (SYUKUR) Outreach Programme for Tuaran district on 16 June 2026 at Dewan Sri Sulaman, Tuaran.

Sabah’s poverty rates have improved over the past years.
• hardcore poverty incidence declined from 1.2 per cent in 2022 to 0.7 per cent in 2024.
• the overall number of individuals classified as poor (the number of poor household heads and household members / Ahli Isi Rumah or AIR) fell from 743,939 people in January 2026 to 577,110 in May 2026.
• absolute poverty incidence declined from 19.7 per cent in 2022 to 17.7 per cent in 2024.

The CM said that the big challenge is that to reduce the State’s poverty incidence, which is still higher than that of other states. SMJ 2.0 sets a clear direction to gradually reduce poverty incidence to levels closer to the national rate by 2030 through the implementation of more targeted, high-impact and sustainable development programmes.

Sabah aims to totally eradicate poverty by 2030 through five key intervention strategies:
• housing assistance - free homes under the Sabah Maju Jaya Friendly Housing Programme.
• employment assistance through the MySMJ Kerja Programme.
• human capital and education assistance through 14 types of educational aid, including Sabah State Government scholarships and assistance from the Sabah Foundation and the Sabah Islamic Religious Council (Majlis Ugama Islam Sabah or MUIS).
• welfare assistance focusing on non-productive groups such as senior citizens, bedridden patients and persons with disabilities.
• entrepreneurship and economic empowerment assistance through programmes such as the People's Income Initiative (Inisiatif Pendapatan Rakyat or IPR) and Sejahtera MADANI.