By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, July 31: Approximately 9.7 per cent of Sarawak’s population is aged 65 and above, making it the second state in Malaysia with the highest proportion of ageing residents.
In a news report by Free Malaysia Today, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said Sarawak and Kedah shared second place, with Perak continuing to have the highest proportion of residents aged 65 and above at 10.8 per cent.
Following Sarawak and Kedah are Penang and Perlis (8.8 per cent), Selangor (8.7 per cent), Negeri Sembilan (8.6 per cent), Johor (8.1 per cent), Kelantan (7.8 per cent), Melaka (7.6 per cent), Pahang (7.5 per cent), and the federal territory of Kuala Lumpur (7.4 per cent).
“A state is classified as ageing when the composition of its population aged 65 years and over exceeds seven per cent of its total population,” said the department.
Meanwhile, it also said that Malaysia’s population—including non-citizens—is estimated to have reached 34.4 million in 2026, up slightly from 34.2 million last year.
The number of citizens, who make up 90.1 per cent of the total, rose from 30.8 million in 2025 to 31 million this year, while the non-citizen population continued to decline, recording a negative growth rate of 0.2 per cent in 2026 after contracting by 0.5 per cent the previous year.
Total male population increased to 18 million from 17.9 million, and the female population rose to 16.4 million from 16.3 million, with the overall ratio remaining unchanged at 110 males for every 100 females.
In terms of the most populous state, Selangor remained at the top with 21.7 per cent, followed by Johor (12.3 per cent) and Sabah (11 per cent). In comparison, Labuan and Putrajaya recorded the smallest population shares at 0.3 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively.
Nationally, the proportion of children aged under 15 fell from 21.6 per cent in 2025 to 21.2 per cent this year, while the proportion aged 65 and above increased from 8 per cent to 8.4 per cent. — DayakDaily
