PETALING JAYA: Malaysia is heading towards an aged nation sooner than expected when more than 17% of the population is expected to be aged 60 and above in 2040, says the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said currently, those aged 60 and above make up 11.6% (3.9 million) of the total population in 2024 which is 34.1 million.
In 2040, Mohd Uzir said Malaysia will see a significant increase of 17.3% or 6.4 million people aged 60 and above out of the projected population which is 37.1 million.
“By 2057, Malaysia will reach the super-aged society category with 20.5% projected to be over the age of 60,” he said when launching the DOSM’s MyAgeing Dashboard through an online press conference on Friday (Sept 6).
The MyAgeing Dashboard, according to Uzir, will provide important information regarding Malaysia’s shift toward an ageing nation which will include data involving Malaysia and other selected countries, as well as discussions regarding the issue among the public and in the media.
According to the United Nations, an ageing society is categorised when more than 7% of the population is 65 years and older.
An aged society refers to when there is more than 14% of the population aged 65 years above and a super-aged society occurs when there are more than 20% of the population aged over 65, according to the UN.
Currently, Malaysia is already under the ageing nation category and is fast becoming an aged nation in about 16 years.
“In 1970, only 5.5% of the total Malaysian population were over the age of 60 while those below the age of 14 make up 44.5%.
“However, in 2024, those below the age of 14 have decreased to 22.2% while those over the age of 60 have risen to 11.6%.
“By 2050, 23.4% of the Malaysian population will be over the age of 60,” Mohd Uzir added.
According to the data collected by the DOSM, it was revealed that Perak has the highest percentage of people aged 60 and above with 14.9%, followed by Sarawak (13.4%) and Kedah (13.3%) this year.
Mohd Uzir said there are 20 districts in Malaysia that have the highest percentage of people aged over 60 years old.
These include Lubok Antu, Sarawak (21.8%), Sri Aman, Sarawak (18.7%), Saratok, Sarawak (18.6%), Kampar, Perak (18.5%), Song Sarawak (18.3%), Hilir Perak, Perak (16.7%) and Selama, Perak (16%), among others.
Uzir said districts experiencing a recent ageing population starting this year were Kuala Langat, Kuala Selangor and Sepang in Selangor; aside from Tenom, Sabah; Seberang Perai Tengah, Penang; Tumpat Kelantan; and Segamat, Johor.
“To put things into perspective, in 1970 we had 0.6 million people aged over 60 years, 3.9 million in 2024 and 6.4 million in 2040,” he added.
