KUALA LUMPUR October 21, 2026 — Malaysian consumers have become markedly more empowered over the past five years, with the national Consumer Empowerment Index (CEI) climbing to 70.36 per cent in 2025, the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) said.
The CEI 2025 score places Malaysian consumers at a “high” level of empowerment, up from 63.1 per cent, or a “moderate” level, in the baseline CEI 2020 study. That is an improvement of 7.26 percentage points, according to a statement issued by Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali.
“This clearly shows that our consumers are increasingly knowledgeable, confident and able to make decisions and take action to protect their rights,” the statement said.
Gains Across All Three Domains
The index measures three areas of consumer empowerment: financial literacy, purchasing decisions, and understanding and exercising consumer rights to obtain redress and compensation.
All three domains improved. The Purchasing Decision domain rose 7.11 percentage points to 75.91 per cent, while the Financial Literacy domain went up 3.97 percentage points to 66.47 per cent.
The largest gain was in the Redress Action domain, which jumped 10.74 percentage points to 66.84 per cent. KPDN said this domain measures consumers’ willingness to voice complaints and claim their rights.
“The increase in this score is not merely a statistic, but a true reflection of the change in attitude and action of Malaysians as consumers,” the statement said.
The CEI study was first carried out in 2020 as the base year, and CEI 2025 is its continuation. To ensure the study met appropriate standards and quality, KPDN benchmarked it against selected jurisdictions, including the European Union and South Korea, to identify the strengths and limitations of their methodologies, instruments, index measurements and consumer empowerment programmes.
Student Consumer Movement
The findings were highlighted as KPDN reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening the Student Consumer Movement (Gerakan Pengguna Siswa — GPS), made up of students from institutions of higher learning, to boost consumer advocacy in society.
In line with the National Consumer Day 2026 theme, “Kita Pengguna: Suara Kita, Kuasa Kita” (We Are Consumers: Our Voice, Our Power), the ministry said GPS serves as a platform to mobilise students in consumer education and advocacy, raise awareness of consumer rights and responsibilities, and foster smart, ethical and responsible consumer practices.
The national-level GPS Grand Assembly (Majlis Perdana Gerakan Pengguna Siswa — MPGPS) 2026 is being held at the National Defence University of Malaysia (UPNM) in Kuala Lumpur from October 19 to October 21, 2026.
This year’s edition brought together 200 GPS participants from 100 institutions of higher learning. To date, 196 GPS clubs have been registered nationwide.
Activities at the assembly included the GPS Exploration Challenge 2026 competition, a field visit with KPDN Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur enforcement officers, knowledge-sharing sessions, GPS Idea Lab presentations and the handover of Ihsan Food Bank (i-FB) grants.
The CEI results suggest that Malaysian consumers are not only making better-informed purchases but are also increasingly prepared to act when their rights are infringed — a shift the ministry hopes student-led advocacy through GPS will continue to reinforce on campuses across the country.
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