Overview

DEMOGRAPHIC SITUATION IN MALAYSIA, 2026

The Current Population Estimates presents the population estimates in Malaysia for 2025 and 2026. The annual current population estimates are based on the Population and Housing Census Malaysia, 2020. The population estimates use cohort-component method which comprise of annual births, deaths, internal migration and international migration. These estimates are analysed using the bottom-up approach. The population is estimated according to single age, ethnic group and sex at state level. The total population of Malaysia is the summation of all state population estimates.

POPULATION SIZE AND ANNUAL POPULATION GROWTH RATE 

Citizens growth rate decreased 0.6 percentage points 

Population growth is influenced by two main factors, namely natural increase and international migration. Natural increase, defined as the difference between the estimated number of births and deaths, was estimated at 175,119 persons in 2026. Natural increase continued to show a declining trend due to lower fertility rates and an increase in the number of deaths.

Malaysia's population is estimated at 34.4 million in 2026, compared with 34.2 million in 2025, recording a growth rate of 0.5 per cent. The Citizens population increased from 30.8 million in 2025 to 31.0 million in 2026, with the growth rate remaining at 0.6 per cent. Meanwhile, the Non-citizens population recorded a growth rate of -0.5 per cent in 2025 and -0.2 per cent in 2026.

POPULATION BY SEX

Males outnumbered females 

The males population increased from 17.9 million in 2025 to 18.0 million in 2026, while the females rose from 16.3 million to 16.4 million in the same period. Despite the increase in both males and females population, the overall sex ratio remained unchanged at 110 males for every 100 females. Similarly, the sex ratios for the Citizens and Non-citizens population remained at 102 males and 227 males for every 100 females, respectively.

AGE STRUCTURE

The old age population in Malaysia continued to increase

The composition of population aged 0-14 years (young age) declined from 21.6 per cent in 2025 to 21.2 per cent in 2026. Meanwhile, the composition of population aged 15-64 years (working age) remained at 70.4 per cent. Conversely, the composition of population aged 65 years and over (old age) increased from 8.0 per cent to 8.4 per cent. In line with the changing age structure, Malaysia's median age increased to 31.7 years in 2026, compared with 31.3 years in the previous year.

DEPENDENCY RATIO

Old age dependency ratio increased over time 

The total dependency ratio, which measures the number of people aged 0–14 years and aged 65 years and over supported by every 100 persons aged 15–64 years, declined slightly from 42.1 in 2025 to 42.0 in 2026. This decline was driven by a reduction in the young-age dependency ratio, which fell from 30.8 to 30.1. Conversely, the old-age dependency ratio increased from11.4 (2025) to 11.9 in 2026.

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