BINTULU: Sarawak recorded land-based revenue collection of RM671.44 million in 2025, a significant increase from RM600.62 million in 2024.
Sarawak Land and Survey Department’s Director, Datuk Awang Zamhari Awang Mahmood, said the revenue growth reflects efficient governance and sustained economic activity, despite the state having abolished land rent for residential land and agricultural land below 100 acres since 2016.
“Land-based revenue continues to contribute significantly to Sarawak’s overall income,” he said in his welcoming speech at the Land and Survey (LANDAS) Summit 2026, officiated by Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg at a hotel here today (Feb 9).
He said the three highest revenue contributors in 2025 were land premiums amounting to RM369.7 million, land rent totalling RM203.3 million, and mining royalties of RM67.5 million.
On land registration, he said the Title Registration System (TRS) recorded a total of 980,827 registered lots across Sarawak as of Dec 31, 2025, covering an area of 3.16 million hectares.
Of this, 779,303 lots were titled land spanning 2.45 million hectares, while 201,524 lots were state land covering 717,000 hectares.
Agricultural and commercial plantation land accounted for the largest portion of titled land, with 367,003 lots covering 2.35 million hectares, followed by residential land with 346,140 lots covering 22,630.5 hectares.
Kuching Division recorded the highest number of registered lots at 222,272, while Miri Division registered the largest land area at 682,897.69 hectares.
Awang Zamhari said land transaction registrations continued to perform strongly, achieving 100 per cent same-day registration in 2025.
A total of 89,933 instruments were registered, with 90.8 per cent completed within the first four hours of submission.
“These transactions recorded a total value of RM30.85 billion, with land charges contributing the highest value at RM15.46 billion, followed by land transfers worth RM7.96 billion,” he said.
He added that stamp duty collection from land transactions amounted to RM262.28 million, with the Sarawak Government continuing discussions with the federal government through the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) Action Council on revenue sharing, as land matters fall under the Sarawak Land Code.
On Native Customary Rights (NCR) land, Awang Zamhari said that since the introduction of the New NCR Land Survey Initiative in 2010, a total of 1.245 million hectares had been surveyed using the perimeter method as of the end of 2025.
Of this, 947,442 hectares had been gazetted as Native Communal Reserves (Agriculture) under Section 6 of the Sarawak Land Code.
He said efforts to enhance individual lot surveys continued, with 109,065 lots covering 129,797 hectares surveyed individually, and 35,873 lots issued titles under Section 18 of the Sarawak Land Code.
Awang Zamhari also highlighted developments in marine cadastre and utility mapping, including the preparation of the Marine Cadastre Roadmap for Sarawak and the completion of the UTiMAPS system in 2025 to facilitate utility data submission by licensed land surveyors. A Utility Mapping Working Committee will be established to enforce data submission.
He said the department is also collaborating with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) to develop a Land Use Management System integrating artificial intelligence capabilities with GIS analysis.
