July 15, 2019 @ 8:37pm

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s population this year is estimated at 32.6 million, according to the Malaysian Statistics Department.

It was 32.4 million last year,

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin, in a statement here today, said 29.4 million were Malaysian citizens and 3.2 million were non-citizens.

He said the sex ratio was 107 males to 100 females.

He said the composition of the population aged 0 to 14 dropped to 23.3 per cent this year, from 23.8 per cent last year, while the percentage of those aged 65 and above rose to 6.7 per cent from 6.5 per cent last year.

Based on the National Senior Citizens Policy, aging population occurs when the percentage of senior citizens or those aged 60 and above reaches 15 per cent of the total population, he added.

He said 10.3 per cent of the population was aged 60 and above, compared with 10 per cent last year.

“Malaysia is expected to experience an aging population in 2030 with the percentage of people aged 60 and above at 15.3 per cent,” he added.

On the population composition based on states, Mohd Uzir said 20 per cent of the total population was in Selangor, followed by Sabah (12 per cent) and Johor (11.6 per cent).

The Bumiputera population recorded an increase of 0.2 per cent to 69.3 per cent, from 69.1 per cent last year, while the Chinese dropped to 22.8 per cent from 23 per cent and the Indian and others remained at 6.9 per cent and one per cent, respectively, he added. – Bernama