Malaysia Is Heading Into An Ageing Nation With A Declining Chinese And Indian Population
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) says that the Malaysian population is getting older each year.
By Sadho Ram — 15 Jul 2020, 04:26 PM
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) has released its latest population estimates based on the Population and Housing Census 2010
Malaysia's population in 2020 is estimated at 32.7 million as compared to 32.5 million in 2019 with an annual growth rate of 0.4%, according to the DoSM findings that were released today, 15 July.
The department added that while the growth rate of citizens remained stable at 1.1%, there was a decline in the growth rate of non-citizens, which was due to the closure of Malaysia's borders and foreigners returning to their respective countries during the Movement Control Order (MCO) amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Malaysian population is getting older each year
According to DoSM, Malaysia is heading into an ageing nation as the percentage of the population aged 65 years and over (old age) increased from 6.7% in 2019 to 7% this year.
The department's findings revealed that there was also a decrease recorded in the percentage of the population aged zero to 14 years (young age) and 15 to 64 years (working age) in the same period.
In terms of median age, there are now more old people in the country than in the previous year.
On the other hand, while the composition of Bumiputera rose 0.3% points, ethnic Indians and Chinese composition show a decline
In 2019, the Bumiputera composition was 69.3%. It recorded 69.6% this year.
Last year, the Chinese composition was 22.8%. It further fell to 22.6% in 2020. Similarly, the Indian composition, which was 6.9% in 2019, fell to 6.8% this year.
In terms of population by sex, males outnumbered females
"Overall, there are more males than females. In 2020, the male population outnumbered the female with 16.8 million (males) and 15.9 million (females)," chief statistician Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in the findings.
While males outnumbered females in both young age (zero to14 years) and working-age (15 to 64 years) groups, females dominate the old-age group (65 years and over) with 1.2 million compared to 1.1 million males.
