Malaysia's population to grow 2.1% in 2023

Malaysia's population is expected to grow 2.1% in 2023, led by international migration, official data showed.

The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement on Monday that the total population of Malaysia in 2023 is estimated at 33.4 million as compared to 32.7 million in 2022, according to Xinhua.

According to the DOSM, the increase in population growth rate is due to the higher number of non-citizens, which is likely to increase from 2.5 million in 2022 to three million in 2023.

The citizen population is also projected to increase from 30.2 million in 2022 to 30.4 million in 2023, with a marginal growth rate of 0.7%.

The composition of the citizen population, however, is seen to decrease from 92.4% in 2022 to 91.1% in 2023.

This is attributed to the increase in the composition of the non-citizen population from 7.6% to 8.9% during the same period.

The increase is in line with the re-opening of national borders on April 1, 2022, and the implementation of the Employment Recalibration Programme 2.0 (which legalises foreign workers in Malaysia) in January 2023.

According to DOSM, males will outnumber females in 2023, at 17.5 million and 15.9 million, respectively.

The sex ratio for the overall population is 110 males for every 100 females.

The composition of the population aged 15-64 years (working age) is projected to increase from 69.6% in 2022 to 70.0% in 2023.

The percentage of the population aged 65 years and over (old age) is expected to increase from 7.2% to 7.4% for the same period.

Meanwhile, the composition of the population aged 0-14 years (young age) in 2023 is forecast to decrease to 22.6% as compared to 23.2% in 2022.

The median age of Malaysia's population reached 30.7 years in 2023, up from 30.4 years in the previous year.