Malaysia’s population at 28.3 million

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia's population stood at 28.3 million at the end of 2010 compared with 23.3 million in 2000, according to the 2010 Population and Housing Census final report. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said an average annual population growth rate of 2.0% was registered between the two censuses. A census is conducted every 10 years.

“The rate was lower compared with that of 2.6% registered during 1991 to 2000,” he told reporters at a press conference here yesterday. Nor Mohamed said the country's fertility rate dropped to 2.3% compared with 3% in 2000. He said 67.3% of the total population were between 15 and 64 while 27.6% were between birth and 14. Those aged 65 and above make up 5.1% of the population.

“The country's population is not an ageing society, even by 2015. “Definition of ageing is when those aged 65 and above make up 10% of the population,” he added. Nor Mohamed said the mean age at first marriage for males was 28 while it was 25 for females. The nationwide census conduc-ted by the Statistics Department between July 6 and Aug 22 last year recorded 14,562,638 males and 13,771,497 females.

He said 91.8% of the population were Malaysian citizens. Bumiputras comprise 67.4%, Chinese 24.6%, Indians 7.3% and others 0.7%. Nor Mohamed said Selangor continued to be the most populated state, with 5.4 million or 19.3% of the country's population, followed by Johor with 3.3 million and Sabah at 3.2 million.

Putrajaya had the highest population growth during the 2000 to 2010 period, with 17.8%. He said males dominated in all states except in Putrajaya and Perlis. “In tandem with the country's rapid development, the proportion of urban population increased to 71% in 2010 compared to 62% in 2000. “Apart from Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, Selangor and Penang had high levels of urbanisation,” he added. The census report is available on the Statistics Department's website and the hard copy can be purchased at RM25.

-thestar online.