Domestic migration now dominates Malaysia’s population movement, with urban-to-urban flows hitting 84.6% as Johor, Selangor and Sabah lead the trend.
PUTRAJAYA: Internal migration in Malaysia increased to 63.5% of all population movement in 2024, up from 62.3% in 2022.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) released its Migration Survey Report Malaysia 2024 today, detailing the trends.
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said Johor recorded the highest proportion of domestic migrants at 70.3%.
Selangor followed with 69.5% and Sabah with 68.7%.
Intra-state migration was overwhelmingly urban-to-urban, accounting for 84.6% of flows compared to 79.3% in 2022.
“This indicates that migration is heavily concentrated in urban areas, reflecting the role of cities as economic centres and hubs for employment opportunities,” Mohd Uzir said.
Rural-to-rural movement made up 7.6%, urban-to-rural was 7.2%, and rural-to-urban was a minimal 0.6%.
All states except Kelantan and Pahang recorded their highest migration as urban-to-urban.
Four states saw urban-to-urban rates exceed 90%: Melaka, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Penang.
The proportion of interstate migrants declined slightly to 30.2% in 2024 from 30.3% in 2022.
Putrajaya had the highest share of interstate migrants at 88.5%, followed by Kedah (60.3%) and Pahang (52.8%).
The share of international migrants fell to 6.3% in 2024 from 7.4% in 2022.
The total number of people aged one and above who migrated in 2024 rose sharply to 301,100.
This is nearly double the 158,800 migrants recorded in the 2022 survey period.
The national migration rate consequently increased to 0.9% from 0.5%.
Family-related factors remained the primary reason for moving, though the proportion declined to 46.2% from 47.3%.
Environmental factors were cited by 26.1% of migrants, while career-related reasons accounted for 17.2%.
Marriage and divorce made up 3.7% of reasons, and education was 3%.
The survey defines migrants as residents who changed their usual place of residence within a one-year period, excluding moves within the same locality.
