AI Job Atlas
AI & jobs · State in Malaysia

Penang

State MY-07 Largest city: George Town
33%
of jobs here are estimated to be exposed to generative AI, above the national 29% (+3.4 pts).
MODEL1st of 16 regions280K exposed workers

Key numbers

PopulationWIKIDATA
1.7M
as of 2020
Share of national populationWIKIDATA
4.8%
9th largest of 16
People in workMODEL
860K
national total × population share
Highest-exposure jobsMODEL
6.8%
national 5.8%
Area
1,023 km²
1,701 people per km²
Settlement patternMODEL
Highly urban
100% live in major cities
Largest city
George Town
2.5M (metro)
Mapped towns & cities
2
Natural Earth places

AI use

ANTHROPIC

Claude.ai conversations, April–May 2026.

Usage intensityANTHROPIC
1.03×
usage share ÷ population share
Share of national useANTHROPIC
4.9%
4.8% of population
Work-relatedANTHROPIC
46%
national 47%
Automation-styleANTHROPIC
47%
national 48%
Augmentation 53%Automation 47%

Sector mix

MODEL

Estimated share of jobs by sector, against the national mix.

Penang Malaysia
Retail & wholesale 18.7%
Business services 14.8%
Manufacturing 14.6%
Hospitality 10.5%
Construction 7.4%
Public admin 5.6%
Education 5.5%
Finance 4.8%
Transport & logistics 4.5%
Health & care 3.9%
ICT & software 3.1%
Other services 2.7%
Agriculture 2.7%
Utilities 1.0%
Mining 0.4%

Exposed workers by sector

MODEL
Retail & wholesale 54K Business services 53.2K Hospitality 24.6K Finance 24.5K Public admin 23.7K Manufacturing 23.6K Education 22.3K Health & care 14K

Ranking in Malaysia

MODEL

By modelled AI exposure, out of 16 regions.

1Penang 33% 2Melaka 32% 3Putrajaya 31% 4Perak 30% 5Johor 30% 6Sarawak 30% 7Terengganu 30%
About these estimates. No source publishes AI exposure by region for every country. The model splits Malaysia's real ILO sector employment across regions using population (Wikidata) and density: denser, capital-city regions get more finance, ICT and professional jobs, and rural regions more farming. Totals match national figures. AI usage figures are measured, not modelled. Methodology

Other regions of Malaysia

All of Malaysia →