Study: 78% of the Malaysian Population Lives in Urban Areas, the 3rd Highest in Southeast Asia

A recent study has found that Malaysia has 1 of the highest percentage of urban population in Asia, with 78% of our country’s population living in urban areas.

The study, conducted by investing website Insider Monkey and published on Yahoo! Finance, sought to find the 20 most urbanised countries in Asia and yielded several interesting results.

How the study was conducted and the dichotomy of urbanisation 

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According to Insider Monkey, urbanisation is a defining element of the modern day and age, with over half of the global population residing in urban areas today.

The percentage is expected to further increase up to 70% by 2050 according to the World Bank, which may be a double-edged sword.

On 1 hand, cities serve as hubs of economic activity, generating over 80% of global GDP and promoting innovation.

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However, on the other hand, the speed and scale of urbanisation strain existing infrastructure and services, leading to issues like affordable housing shortages, inadequate transportation systems and environmental degradation.

With that in mind, Insider Monkey revealed that to list the most urbanised countries in Asia, it relied on urban population data as a percentage of the total population by country per the latest World Bank data.

Malaysia is the 3rd most urbanised Southeast Asian country, 16th in Asia

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Malaysia was named the 16th most urbanised country in Asia in the list, with 78% of the population living in urban areas.

The study elaborated that our country has experienced a major increase in urbanisation over the past 5 decades, with our urban population increasing from 3 million in 1970 to 24.4 million in 2020.

Moreover, despite the rapid urban growth, the rural population in Malaysia remains low at 8.1 million in 2020. For context, that’s only a 0.6 million increase from the rural population in 1970.

In the ranking, only 3 other Southeast Asian nations were ahead of us in the ranking, Brunei at 15th place (79% urban population) and Singapore at 1st place with a whopping 100% of the population living in urban areas.

In fact, Singapore was among 4 other Asian nations or territories with a 100% urban population in the study, the others being Hong Kong, Macao and Kuwait.

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So, what do you guys think of the study? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

Also read: Latest Statistics Reveal That Malaysia’s Population Now at 34 Million, 10% of Which are Foreigners