Malaysia’s urbanisation rate tripled over past five decades

Malaysia’s urbanisation rate has nearly tripled since 1970, with three-quarters of the nation’s residents now living in cities. 

The nation’s urban population expanded to 24.4 million in 2020 from 3 million in 1970, according to a report released on Friday (Dec 23) by the Department of Statistics. The rural population rose slightly to 8.1 million from 7.5 million in the period.

The data underlines Malaysia’s transformation from being a major producer of rubber and tin to a one of the world’s leading producers of semiconductors.

Shipments of manufactured goods, including the growing electrical and electronics sector, made up almost 85 per cent of total exports in November, with agricultural goods accounting for just 7 per cent, official data show. 

Malaysia was the world’s sixth-largest exporter of semiconductor devices and integrated circuits in 2021, according to UN Comtrade data, ahead of the US which took seventh place. BLOOMBERG