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Forestry officer salary in Malaysia

Gaji Pemelihara HutanGaji Penolong Pemelihara Hutan

What federal agencies pay new forestry officers at the entry levels covered here under the 2026 public-service pay scale, with the allowances set by the JPA circular.

MalaysiaSSPA pay scale · Budget 2026DOSM Salaries & WagesRM per monthUpdated 28 Oct 2026
Government pay scaleBasic pay range / month
Entry, certificate or diplomaAssistant forestry officer, G5RM1,650–6,620Entry, degreeForestry officer, G9RM2,250–11,110PromotionGrade 10RM3,840–12,150PromotionGrade 12RM5,530–13,540PromotionGrade 14RM6,560–15,360
Minimum to maximum basicScale RM0 to RM16kSSPA pay scale, Budget 2026
Starting basicRM2,580RM30,960 a yearG9, bachelor of Science in forestrySee the pay breakdown →With allowancesRM3,480RM41,760 a yearBasic plus RM900 fixed allowances, Kuala LumpurSee the pay breakdown →With a diplomaRM1,974RM23,688 a yearG5, RM2,784 with allowancesSee every entry level →Top of grade 9RM11,110RM133,320 a yearMaximum basic at G9See the pay scale →
At a glance

Forestry officer salary in Malaysia

What the job is: Farming, forestry and fisheries advisers study and provide assistance and advice on farm, forestry and fisheries management, including cultivation, fertilization, harvesting, soil erosion and composition, disease prevention, nutrition, crop rotation and marketing. ILO ISCO-08, 2132 Farming, Forestry and Fisheries Advisers

  • Forestry officer (Pemelihara Hutan, G9): RM2,580 basic a month (bachelor of Science in forestry).
  • With fixed allowances in Kuala Lumpur: RM3,480 a month at G9.
  • Assistant forestry officer (G5): RM1,731 basic, RM2,541 with allowances.
  • Pay scale: grade 9 runs from RM2,250 to RM11,110, rising RM225 a year.

What a new forestry officer earns

A forestry officer at G9 starts on RM2,580 basic, plus RM900 in fixed allowances in Kuala Lumpur: RM3,480 a month.

Grade G9, from the SPA service scheme and the JPA allowance circular. The starting point depends on the qualification.

Qualification or pay itemGrade G9RM a month
Bachelor of Science in forestryStarting basic2,580
Fixed allowances, Kawasan AHousing (ITP) RM300, public service (ITKA) RM300, cost of living (BISH) RM300900
Total fixed pay at the start, bachelor of Science in forestryBasic plus fixed allowances, Kawasan A3,480

Sources: SPA scheme page for grade G9; JPA Pekeliling Perkhidmatan 1/2024, Lampiran E. BISH is lower outside Kawasan A. Totals computed by Foundific.

What it means
  • A year at the start: RM3,480 × 12 = RM41,760.
  • Allowances counted here are the fixed ones in the JPA circular. Any allowance tied to a particular post is not included.

How to become a forestry officer

Forestry officers enter at G9 with a Bachelor of Science in forestry. The assistant forestry officer scheme also has a G1 entry that is not covered here.

Entry levelQualificationStarting basic, RMWith allowances, RM
Assistant forestry officer (Penolong Pemelihara Hutan, G5)Forest ranger certificate (Sijil Perhutanan Renjer Hutan) from the Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia1,7312,541
Assistant forestry officer (Penolong Pemelihara Hutan, G5)Diploma in forestry or a related field1,9742,784
Forestry officer (Pemelihara Hutan, G9)Bachelor of Science in forestry2,5803,480

Source: SPA scheme pages. Allowances from the JPA circular, Kawasan A: G5 RM810, G9 RM900. Totals computed by Foundific.

What it means
  • Bahasa Melayu: every route needs a credit in Bahasa Melayu at SPM or SVM.

How pay grows on the government scale

Grade 9 pay rises RM225 a year, from RM2,250 up to RM11,110. Promotion to a higher grade moves an officer onto a higher range.

Minimum and maximum monthly basic salary for each SSPA grade, 2026.

GradeWhoMinimumMaximumYearly increment
5Assistant forestry officer, entry with a certificate or diploma1,6506,620145
9Forestry officer, entry with a degree2,25011,110225
10Promotion grade3,84012,150250
12Promotion grade5,53013,540270
14Promotion grade6,56015,360320

Source: Ministry of Finance, Budget 2026 establishment list, Lampiran A: SSPA salary codes and minimum-maximum salaries (page A-1). Basic salary only.

What it means
  • The grade 9 scale allows yearly increments of RM225.

Pay after 5, 10 and 20 years

Starting at RM2,580 at grade 9, with the RM225 yearly increment and no promotion. The grade maximum, RM11,110, is reached after about 38 years.

Years in gradeBasic, RM a monthWith fixed allowances, RM a monthFixed pay, RM a year
At the start2,5803,48041,760
After 5 years3,7054,60555,260
After 10 years4,8305,73068,760
After 20 years7,0807,98095,760

Foundific calculation from the Budget 2026 SSPA scale, with fixed allowances at the Kawasan A rate, which do not rise with increments. Promotion, special payments and allowance changes are not included.

Compared with Malaysian pay overall

A new forestry officer's fixed pay, RM3,480, is above the RM2,940 median for Malaysian citizens. The agriculture industry median, RM1,698, covers workers of all grades and years.

FigureSourceRM a month
New forestry officer, G9, basic plus fixed allowances, Kuala LumpurSPA and JPA, 20263,480
Median salary, agriculture industryDOSM, 20241,698
Median salary, all Malaysian citizensDOSM, 20252,940
Median salary, employed degree holders of all agesDOSM, 20245,724
  • Industry median covers all citizen employees in the industry.
  • DOSM figures cover all paid employees and all ages. The government figure is one fixed pay point. Use them to show scale only.
  • Compare your own pay with this scale, the DOSM figures and court awards in the Malaysia salary comparison.

Forestry officers outside government

The data used here does not cover forestry officer pay outside government.

  • DOSM publishes salaries by state, industry, occupation group and skill level, but not by job title.
  • Private surveys and job ads use different measures and samples, so their figures are not mixed into the tables here.

Data sources and coverage

Government pay for forestry officers is exact. The official data used here does not cover private-sector pay for the job.

SourceWhat it givesStrength
SPA service schemes G5, G9Starting basic pay by qualificationStrong: official and current
Budget 2026, SSPA pay scaleMinimum, maximum and yearly increment for every gradeStrong: official and current
JPA SSPA circular, Lampiran EFixed allowances by grade and areaStrong: official
DOSM Salaries & Wages Survey 2024 and 2025Industry and national mediansWeak for one job title
  • A payslip shows basic plus allowances plus any shift, on-call or overtime pay, so it can be higher than the fixed figures here.

Is forestry officer work affected by AI?

The International Labour Organization puts farming, forestry and fisheries advisers in its “Not exposed” group for exposure to generative AI. Its scores cover the job worldwide, so they apply in Malaysia too.

Based on the International Labour Organization's 2025 index, which scores every core task of a job from 0 (AI cannot help) to 1 (AI could do nearly all of it).

Forestry officer
Not exposedAI exposure
Not exposedVery high

AI can do very little of this job. Most tasks are hands-on or face to face.

  • Most exposed taskPreparing scientific reports and conducting advisory…
  • Least exposed taskStudying fish migration, growth, feeding and spawning
  • In numbersAI could do a large part of 1 of its 12 main tasks.
Forestry officerISCO 2132
Not exposedexposure to generative AI
  1. Not exposed
  2. Minimal
  3. Some
  4. Moderate
  5. High
  6. Very high

Scored as ILO group 2132 Farming, forestry and fisheries advisers. Average task score 0.28, higher than 54% of the 427 jobs the ILO scored.

Seven factors
FactorForestry officer
1Exposure levelNot exposed
2Average task score0.28 higher than 54% of jobs
3Tasks AI could do much of1 of 12
4Hands-on or people tasks5 of 12
5How even the exposure isMixed (0.10)
6Most exposed taskPreparing scientific reports and conducting advisory… 0.54
7Least exposed taskStudying fish migration, growth, feeding and spawning and… 0.14
Most and least exposed tasks
Forestry officer
Most exposed tasks
  • 0.54Preparing scientific reports and conducting advisory information sessions and…
  • 0.36Developing procedures and techniques for solving agricultural problems and…
  • 0.34Advising on techniques for improving the production of crops, livestock and…
Least exposed tasks
  • 0.14Studying fish migration, growth, feeding and spawning and devising methods of…
  • 0.17Studying the propagation and culture of forest trees, methods for improving…
  • 0.20Collecting and analysing data and samples related to produce, feed, soil…

What each factor means · How this job compares with the other salary guides

Source: ILO Working Paper 140, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (Gmyrek et al., 2025), CC BY 4.0. Malaysian jobs are matched to ILO groups by their ISCO-08 code; MASCO follows ISCO-08 at four digits. The ILO scores international job groups, not Malaysian titles. How we read the AI scores.
What it means
  • Exposure measures how much of the work AI could do or speed up. It does not measure job cuts.

What the pay figures include

Every figure is monthly basic pay or fixed allowances, before deductions.

MeasureIncludesExcludes
Basic salaryGaji pokok on the SSPA scaleAllowances, shift, on-call and overtime pay, special payments
Fixed allowancesITP, BISH, ITKA or ITK, and BIPK as advertised for the postShift, on-call and overtime pay
DOSM salaryMonthly salaries and wages of paid employeesSelf-employed and unpaid family workers

Questions

What is the forestry officer salary in Malaysia?

A new government forestry officer starts on RM2,580 basic a month (G9, bachelor of Science in forestry). With fixed allowances in Kuala Lumpur the total is RM3,480 a month, in 2026.

What is the forestry officer salary per year in Malaysia?

RM3,480 a month is RM41,760 a year in fixed pay, before any shift, on-call or overtime pay and before the special payments the government announces each year.

How does a government forestry officer's pay grow with years in service?

On the yearly increment alone, basic pay at grade 9 rises RM225 a year: from RM2,580 to about RM3,705 after 5 years and RM4,830 after 10, before any promotion. Foundific calculation from the Budget 2026 scale.

What is the highest forestry officer salary in government?

Grade 9 runs from RM2,250 to RM11,110 in basic pay. Promotion can lead to grade 14, with a maximum basic of RM15,360 a month (Budget 2026).

How much does a forestry officer earn in a private company?

The data used here does not cover forestry officer pay outside government.

What is the difference between G5 and G9 for forestry officers?

G5 (assistant forestry officer) is the entry below degree level. It starts at RM1,731 basic with the forest ranger certificate and RM1,974 with a diploma. G9 (forestry officer) is the degree entry and starts at RM2,580. The G9 scale runs to RM11,110, against RM6,620 at G5.

Where do these figures come from?

Starting pay is from the SPA service scheme pages, the pay scale from the Budget 2026 establishment list, and allowances from the JPA SSPA circular. Private-sector context is from DOSM and Industrial Court awards.

MalaysiaMalaysia salary overviewPay by state, sector and skill MalaysiaAgriculture officer salary in MalaysiaGovernment grades, starting pay and allowancesRM2,580 starting basic MalaysiaScience officer salary in MalaysiaGovernment grades, starting pay and allowancesRM2,580 starting basic MalaysiaVeterinarian salary in MalaysiaGovernment grades, starting pay and allowancesRM2,910 starting basic

Sources

SPA service schemes, Ministry of Finance Budget 2026, JPA SSPA circular, DOSM
  1. Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam, Syarat Permohonan: Penolong Pemelihara Hutan Gred G5.
  2. Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam, Syarat Permohonan: Pemelihara Hutan Gred G9.
  3. Ministry of Finance, Budget 2026 establishment list, Lampiran A. SSPA minimum-maximum salaries, page A-1.
  4. JPA, Pekeliling Perkhidmatan Bil. 1/2024 (SSPA), Lampiran E: ITP, ITKA and BISH by grade and area.
  5. DOSM, Salaries & Wages Survey Report 2025 and the 2024 report.