KUALA LUMPUR, February 26 — Malaysia’s population reached an estimated 33.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, indicating a 2 per cent increase from the previous year’s figure of 33 million during the same period. Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin, Chief Statistician, disclosed that out of this total, 30.5 million individuals are citizens, with the remaining classified as non-citizens. Mohd Uzir further elaborated that the male population saw a rise to 17.7 million from 17.2 million, while the female population increased to 16 million from 15.8 million.
The gender ratio across the population stands at 110 males for every 100 females, with a slightly lower ratio of 103 males to 100 females among citizens. Additionally, while the population aged 0 to 14 years remained unchanged at 7.6 million, there were notable increases in the 15 to 64 years demographic, totaling 23.6 million, and the population aged 65 years and above, which rose to 2.5 million from 2.4 million. Moreover, the Chief Statistician highlighted a slight decrease of 1.1 per cent in the number of live births recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023, totaling 112,767 births compared to 114,067 births in the same period of 2022.
This decrease was coupled with a higher number of male births, surpassing female births, and variations in birth and death statistics across different regions, with Selangor recording the highest number of live births and the Federal Territory of Labuan reporting the lowest. Additionally, there were 48,250 deaths recorded during the same period, marking a 4.2 per cent decrease from the previous year, with more deaths recorded among males compared to females.
