KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 24): Malaysia's non-citizen population is projected to drop slightly in 2025 from the peak of 3.4 million last year, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
Non-citizen population is estimated to fall 0.5% from last year to 3.38 million this year, the government’s main data agency said in a report issued on Wednesday.
The projected figure is still the second-highest historically on record. It makes up 9.9% of the country’s total population.
A total of 2.7 million people or 79.8% of the estimated non-citizen population are at the “working age” of 15-64 years old, DOSM said.
By state, Sabah is estimated to have the highest number of non-citizens at 1.04 million, followed by Selangor (727,000), Johor (385,000) and Kuala Lumpur (270,700).
Looking at the 2024 figures, 2.36 million or 88.9% of non-citizens were employed, “indicating that the main purpose for non-citizens entering Malaysia is for employment”, DOSM noted.
The median age of non-citizens in 2025 is estimated to be 29.2 years old.
Malaysia’s non-citizen population had been on an upward climb since the 90’s.
From about 803,000 in 1991, the figure rose to a pre-pandemic peak of 3.32 million in 2018.
The non-citizen population saw a sharp fall during the Covid-19 pandemic but shot back up to pre-pandemic levels after borders and migrant worker quotas reopened.