Demographics of Malaysia

Largest cities of Malaysia (2010)
Kuala Lumpur George Town	Rank	City	State	Population	Ipoh Shah Alam
	1	Kuala Lumpur	Federal Territory	1,475,337
	2	George Town	Penang	708,127
	3	Ipoh	Perak	657,892
	4	Shah Alam	Selangor	641,306
	5	Petaling Jaya	Selangor	613,977
	6	Johor Bahru	Johor	497,067
	7	Malacca	Malacca	484,885
	8	Kota Kinabalu	Sabah	452,058
	9	Alor Setar	Kedah	405,523
	10	Kuala Terengganu	Terengganu	337,553

The demographics of Malaysia are represented by the multiple ethnic groups that exist in this country. Malaysia's population, according to the 2010 census, is 28,334,000 including non-citizens, which makes it the 41st most populated country in the world. Of these, 5.72 million live in East Malaysia and 22.5 million live in Peninsular Malaysia. The Malaysian population continues to grow at a rate of 2.4% per annum. According to latest 2010 census, among the three largest Malaysian groups Malays and Bumiputera fertility rates are at 2.8 children per woman, Chinese 1.8 children per woman, and Indians 2.0 children per woman. Malay fertility rates are 40% higher than Malaysian Indians and 56% higher than Malaysian Chinese. In 2010, the Malays and Bumiputeras were 60.3%, Chinese 24.6%, and the Indians 7.1% of the total population. The Chinese population has shrunk to half of its peak share from 1957 when it was 45% of Malaya, although in absolute numbers they have multiplied more than threefold.

The population distribution is uneven, with some 79% of its citizens (20 million of 28.4 million as of 2015) concentrated in Peninsular Malaysia, which has an area of 131,598 square kilometres (50,810.27 sq mi).

Censuses were taken in Malaysia in 1970, 1980, 1991, and 2000, with the one in 2000 taking place between 5 and 20 July. The total population is around 28.3 million according to the 2010 census. The population distribution is highly uneven, with some 20 million residents concentrated in Peninsula Malaysia. 74.7% of the population is urban. Due to the rise in labour-intensive industries, Malaysia is estimated to have over 3 million migrant workers, which is about 10% of the Malaysian population. The exact numbers are unknown: there are a million legal foreign workers and perhaps another million unauthorised foreigners. The state of Sabah alone had nearly 25% of its 2.7 million population listed as illegal foreign workers in the last census. Sabah based NGOs estimate that out of the 3 million population, 2 million are illegal immigrants.

Additionally, according to the World Refugee Survey 2008, published by the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), Malaysia hosts a population of refugees and asylum seekers numbering approximately 155,700. Of this population, approximately 70,500 refugees and asylum seekers are from the Philippines, 69,700 from Burma, and 21,800 from Indonesia. The USCRI named Malaysia as one of the ten worst places for refugees on account of the country's discriminatory practices toward them. Malaysian officials are reported to have turned deportees directly over to human smugglers in 2007, and Malaysia employs RELA, a volunteer militia, to enforce its immigration law.

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