KUALA LUMPUR, Oct. 23 -- Malaysian households are now spending more on eating out than on groceries to prepare meals at home, according to a new report by the Khazanah Research Institute (KRI).

The report, titled "From Income to Wellbeing: The State of Households 2026", found that Malaysian households spent an average of RM902.70 a month on eating out, compared with RM875.80 on groceries.

Eating out accounted for 16.2 per cent of total household spending, up from 12.6 per cent in 2016, and was the single biggest driver of higher household expenditure between 2022 and 2024, rising by RM78.20.

According to the report, the increase in food spending was more pronounced among the bottom 80 per cent of households, whose average food expendit...