PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s population in 2021 is estimated at 32.7 million compared with 32.6 million in 2020 with an annual growth rate of 0.2%.
The composition of the Malaysian citizen in 2021 increased to 91.8%, an increase of 0.7 percentage points as compared to 2020 (91.1%).
The decline in the population growth rate was due to the lower number of non-citizens from 3.0 million (2020) to 2.7 million (2021).
“This was in line with the closure of national borders and the return of foreigners to their respective countries during the Movement Control Order (MCO) following the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic worldwide,” Chief Statistician Malaysia, Datuk Seri Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin said today.
“The growth rate of citizens remained stable at 1.0% with the population increasing from 29.7 million in 2020 to 30.0 million in 2021.”
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) released the publication on Current Population Estimates, Malaysia, 2021 today.
The report presents population estimates of Malaysia for 2020 and 2021. The estimates are based on the 2010 Population and Housing Census and it is updated based on birth and death records of the National Registration Department (NRD); internal migration from the Migration Survey by DOSM as well as international migration from the Immigration Department of Malaysia, NRD, Ministry of Higher Education and UNHCR. The data will be reviewed once the results of the Malaysia Census 2020 are obtained.
In 2021, the male population outnumbered the female with 16.8 million and 15.9 million respectively. The sex ratio is 106 males for every 100 females. For the period of 2020-2021, the sex ratio for citizens and non-citizens remained at 102 and 156 males per 100 females respectively.
The composition of the population aged 0-14 years (young age) in 2021 decreased to 23.0% compared with 23.3% in 2020.
“In Malaysia, the population aged 60 years and over recorded a year-on-year increase. Based on the population projection 2010-2040, Malaysia is expected to become an ageing nation in 2030 with the population aged 60 years and overreached 15.3%of the total population. The population of 60 years and over increased to 3.6 million (11.2%) in 2021 as compared to 3.5 million (10.7%) in 2020,” Mohd Uzir said.
Of 30.0 million Malaysian Citizen, the bumiputra composition increased 0.2 percentage points to 69.8% in 2021 as compared to 69.6% in 2020.
However, the Chinese population composition declined to 22.4% (2020: 22.6%) while Indians and others remained at 6.8% and 1.0% respectively.
“The three states with the highest population composition in2021 were Selangor (20.1%) followed by Sabah (11.7%) and Johor (11.6%). On the contrary, W.P. Labuan and W.P. Putrajaya recorded the lowest population composition at 0.3% and 0.4% respectively.
“However, W.P. Putrajaya recorded the highest annual population growth rate for the period 2020–2021 at 5.4%,” Mohd Uzir added.
