Selangor
Selangor shows preferential attachment effects: Malaysia's richest state hit record RM432.1B GDP (2024)—26.2% of national output—with services (61.1%) and manufacturing (29.1%) driving 6.3% growth in the Greater KL economic engine.
Selangor exists because Kuala Lumpur exists—and because the state encircling the capital captured the sprawl that the Federal Territory's 243 km² could not contain. Malaysia's richest and most populous state (6.54 million residents) achieved a record RM432.1 billion GDP in 2024—26.2% of national output, making it the only state to exceed RM400 billion for two consecutive years. The 6.3% growth rate outpaced the national 5.1%. Services (61.1% of state GDP) and manufacturing (29.1%) drive an economy spanning Shah Alam's automotive assembly (Proton, Perodua, Toyota, BMW), Petaling Jaya's services hub, and Port Klang's container operations (Malaysia's largest port). The industrial corridor hosts electrical and electronics, food processing, vegetable oils, and transport equipment manufacturing—contributing 32.9% of Malaysia's total manufacturing output. Selangor lost its historic capital when Kuala Lumpur became federal territory in 1974, relocating governance to Shah Alam. The state now functions as Greater KL's economic engine: airport (KLIA), port, and industrial zones serving the national capital region. With RM62,492 GDP per capita exceeding the World Bank high-income threshold (RM14,005), Selangor represents Malaysia's developed core—yet income inequality and traffic congestion reveal the costs of concentrated success.