KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's population is estimated at 32.7 million in 2021, up 0.2 percent from 32.6 million in 2020, official data showed Thursday.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement that the decline in the population growth rate was due to the lower number of non-citizens, which fell to 2.7 million in 2021 from 3 million in 2020.
"This was in line with the closure of national borders and the return of foreigners to their respective countries during the Movement Control Order following the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide," said the DOSM.
It said the growth rate of citizens remained stable at 1 percent with the population increasing to 30 million in 2021 from 29.7 million in 2020.
Out of 30 million citizens, the composition of ethnics Malay and indigenous groups increased 0.2 percentage points to 69.8 percent in 2021 as compared to 69.6 percent in 2020.
The ethnic Chinese population composition declined to 22.4 percent in 2021 from 22.6 percent in 2020.
Meanwhile, the proportion of ethnic Indians and other populations remained at 6.8 percent and 1 percent respectively.
In 2021, the male population outnumbered the female with 16.8 million and 15.9 million respectively. Enditem
