Internet Access by State Malaysia: Urban vs Rural Data

2. Internet Access by State Malaysia: Key Figures

Quick Answer: In 2025, 97.1% of Malaysian households had internet access. Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya reached 100%, while Sabah (91.6%) and Sarawak (91.7%) were lowest. Urban homes were at 99.0% and rural homes at 90.7%. Only 48.0% of households had fixed broadband, so most connections still run on mobile data.

Every figure in this table comes from DOSM’s ICT Use and Access by Individuals and Households Survey Report 2025, Tables 1.2, 2.3 and 2.8. The summary is on the DOSM release page. Two notes before you read on:

• Household access is not the same as personal use. A household counts if it has mobile or fixed broadband. A person counts if they used the internet anywhere, including on their own phone.
• “Urban” and “rural” follow DOSM’s strata. Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya have no rural strata, so they show only one figure.

3. Which State Has the Highest Internet Access in Malaysia?

Quick Answer: Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya have the highest internet access in Malaysia, with 100% of households connected in 2025. Labuan (99.8%), Pulau Pinang (99.7%) and Selangor (99.6%) follow. Sabah (91.6%) and Sarawak (91.7%) are lowest, about 8 points behind the leaders, with Kelantan and Terengganu next at 95.4%.

The ranking splits Malaysia into three clear tiers, based on the DOSM 2025 survey:

• Near-universal (99% and above): Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Labuan, Pulau Pinang, Selangor and Johor. These are the urban economic centres.
• Middle tier (95% to 97.3%): Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Perlis, Kedah, Pahang, Perak, Kelantan and Terengganu. Mostly fine, with pockets of rural weakness.
• Lagging (under 92%): Sabah and Sarawak. Roughly one in twelve homes has no connection at all.

The order tracks income closely. The top tier matches the richest states in our median household income by state report. Fibre and data plans cost money, and dense cities are cheaper to wire.

4. How Big Is the Urban vs Rural Internet Gap in Each State?

Quick Answer: Nationally, 99.0% of urban households and 90.7% of rural households had internet access in 2025, an 8.3-point gap. The gap is widest in Sarawak (18.4 points) and Sabah (16.2 points). In Pulau Pinang it is just 0.6 points, and Johor, Kelantan and Selangor are all under 2 points.

The most useful finding here is that urban Sabah and Sarawak are not the problem. Urban homes in both states are at 98.8% and 99.5%, level with Selangor. The shortfall sits almost entirely in the interior, where terrain and distance make towers and fibre expensive, as the video above explains.

So a Kuching or Kota Kinabalu audience behaves much like a Klang Valley one. Our guides to digital marketing in Sarawak and digital marketing in Sabah cover how to reach both city and interior buyers. Negeri Sembilan is the surprise in Peninsular Malaysia: its rural gap of 7.9 points is almost as wide as the national gap.

5. Which States Have the Most Home Fibre Broadband?

Quick Answer: Only 48.0% of Malaysian households had fixed (wired) broadband in 2025, against 96.0% with mobile broadband. Putrajaya (76.4%) and Kuala Lumpur (74.8%) lead, with Selangor at 60.6%. Kelantan is lowest at 25.8%, followed by Terengganu (29.4%) and Sabah (32.2%). Rural fixed broadband is just 25.2% nationally.

This is the hidden divide. Almost every home is online, but in Kelantan, Terengganu and Sabah, roughly six to seven in ten homes connect only through mobile data. The Khazanah Research Institute calls Malaysia a mobile-first nation and notes that cost holds many rural homes back. For your website and ads, that means:

• Data caps shape behaviour. People on mobile plans think twice before streaming long videos or loading heavy pages. Our mobile data usage in Malaysia report shows how much data a typical user burns.
• Speed varies by tower, not by plan. Mobile speeds drop at peak hours and in the interior. See our internet speed data for Malaysia for the mobile vs fixed comparison.
• 5G helps, but mainly in cities. Coverage is growing fastest in urban areas, as our 5G Malaysia statistics show, so it narrows the speed gap less in rural states.

6. How Many People Use the Internet in Each State?

Quick Answer: Personal internet use is higher than home access in every state. In 2025, 98.3% of Malaysians aged 15 and above used the internet, from 100% in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya to 94.9% in Sarawak. Computer use varies far more, from 98.3% in Putrajaya to just 62.5% in Sabah, so phones carry most rural browsing.

Sabah is the clearest example of why both measures matter. Only 91.6% of Sabah homes have internet access, yet 98.1% of Sabahans use the internet. The difference is the phone in their pocket. With only 62.5% using a computer, many Sabah customers will never see your desktop layout.

That links straight to device data. Our smartphone users in Malaysia report covers ownership. Our mobile vs desktop traffic data shows how lopsided web visits are, and our iPhone vs Android in Malaysia breakdown tells you which phones to test on.

7. Is the Digital Divide Between States Closing?

Quick Answer: Slowly. Between 2024 and 2025, household internet access rose 0.6 points in both Sabah and Sarawak, double the national gain of 0.3 points. Rural Sarawak homes went from 80.4% to 81.1%. At that pace, the lagging states will take years to catch up, so the gap will shape marketing for some time.

The 2024 figures are from DOSM’s ICT Use and Access Survey Report 2024, Table 1.2, and the 2025 figures from the 2025 report linked earlier. The second phase of the national JENDELA network plan targets this gap. In August 2026, a Sabah state minister told The Star that Phase 2 should be judged on reliable rural connections, not tower counts.

For marketers, the practical reading is simple. Plan for today’s gap, not a promised one. A slow catch-up will not reshape your audience map in one budget year. Pair access data with our Malaysia population data for marketers when you weigh each state.

8. What This Means for Your Marketing

Quick Answer: Use internet access by state in Malaysia to decide where and how you advertise. Split campaigns by state and keep pages light for mobile-data users. Give rural customers WhatsApp and call options, rank locally in East Malaysia and track results by region.

Here is the six-step approach we use with clients who sell across several states:

1. Split campaigns by state or region. Do not run one national campaign and hope the average works. Set separate budgets for the Klang Valley, the other Peninsular states and East Malaysia, using Google Ads location targeting. Multi-branch brands can do the same on Meta with location-based Meta Ads for each outlet.
2. Build for mobile data, not fibre. In states where most homes lack fixed broadband, compress images, cut heavy scripts and keep videos short. Check your site against our mobile-friendly website checklist and our guide to fixing slow page speed.
3. Give rural buyers a low-data way to reach you. A WhatsApp button or click-to-call works on a weak signal when a long form does not.
4. Rank locally where people search. Urban Sabah and Sarawak are as connected as Selangor, and search habits match. Local SEO in Malaysia and a complete Google Business Profile win those searches. Google is the engine nearly everyone uses, as our search engine market share report shows.
5. Match payment options to the state. E-wallets and DuitNow QR are common, but adoption is uneven. Our cashless payments in Malaysia data helps you choose what to offer at checkout.
6. Measure by region. In Google Analytics and your ad reports, compare cost per lead and conversion rate by state. Move budget towards the states where your pages load well and leads convert.

Our digital marketing team runs this kind of state-by-state plan across search and social, and our web design team builds pages that load fast on mobile data.

9. Conclusion

Quick Answer: Internet access by state in Malaysia ranges from 100% of homes in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya to about 92% in Sabah and Sarawak. Rural homes in East Malaysia lag most, and fewer than half of all homes have fibre. Businesses should plan by state and build for mobile data.

The headline 97.1% hides two very different Malaysias. In the cities, almost everyone has fast home internet and a computer. In rural East Malaysia and the east coast, people are online mainly through phones on mobile data, and some homes are not connected at all. Your marketing works best when it respects that difference.

If you sell across several states, our digital marketing services can help you set the right mix for each market.

10. Frequently Asked Questions

1. Which state in Malaysia has the lowest internet access?

Sabah has the lowest household internet access, at 91.6% in DOSM’s 2025 survey, just behind Sarawak at 91.7%. For individual internet use, Sarawak is lowest at 94.9% of people aged 15 and above.

2. What percentage of rural households in Malaysia have internet access?

In 2025, 90.7% of rural households had internet access, compared with 99.0% of urban households. Rural Sarawak (81.1%) and rural Sabah (82.6%) are the lowest, while rural Pulau Pinang reaches 99.1%.

3. Which state has the most fibre broadband at home?

Putrajaya leads with 76.4% of households on fixed (wired) broadband, followed by Kuala Lumpur at 74.8% and Selangor at 60.6%. Kelantan is lowest at 25.8%. Nationally, only 48.0% of households have fixed broadband.

4. Where does state-level internet data in Malaysia come from?

The main source is DOSM’s yearly ICT Use and Access by Individuals and Households Survey. The 2025 report, released in April 2026, includes tables by state and by urban and rural strata. A report with 2026 data is not yet published.

5. Should I target Sabah and Sarawak differently in my ads?

Yes. Urban areas such as Kota Kinabalu and Kuching are as connected as the Klang Valley, but rural areas lag by 16 to 18 points. Split city and rural targeting, keep landing pages light and offer WhatsApp or call options.