Page 244 - Contributed Paper Session (CPS) - Volume 8

CPS2269 TEY Nai Peng et al.
The population of Petaling district increased almost five folds from 360
thousand in 1980 to 1.77 million in 2010, at a rate of 5.3% per annum, and it
has taken over from Kuala Lumpur as the most populous district. The
population of Johor Bahru increased more than three-fold between 1980 and
2010, making it the third most populous district. Ulu Langat, the ninth most
populous district in 1980 witnessed the most rapid population growth at 6.2%
per annum over this period, to leapfrog into the fourth place in 2010. With a
population growth rate of 3.7% per annum over the three decades, Klang
remained the fifth most populous district in 2010. Although Kinta remained
the sixth most populous district in 2010, its population has been growing
much slower than many other districts.
More than a third (or 34.4%) of the national population now lives in the
ten most populous districts: Petaling, Kuala Lumpur, Johore Bahru, Ulu Langat,
Klang, Kinta, Gombak, Kuching, Seremban and Timur Laut. In the National
Physical Plan, the Federal Department of Town and Country Planning (2010)
projected a population of 10.37 million, 2.42 million, 2.40 million and 1.38
million for Kuala Lumpur, Georgetown1 (Pulau Pinang), Johor Bahru and
Kuantan respectively in 2020. The combined total population of 16.57 million
in these four conurbations will make up about 70 percent of the urban
population or 60.4 percent of the total population in Peninsular Malaysia.
What are the reasons for the phenomenal population growth in these
districts? Petaling and the other four districts in the Klang Valley have attracted
migrants from all over the country to take up jobs in administration,
commercial, financial, industrial, educational and services sectors. The various
economic policies and programmes require the relocation to the cities, and
these have led to the dramatic population redistribution over the last few
decades.
Eight districts have experienced depopulation between 1970 and 2010-
Sabak Bernam, Temerloh, Julau, Betong, Dalat, Sri Aman and Hilir Perak. Sabak
Bernam and Temerloh registered the heaviest decrease of more than 50,000
persons each over the 30 years between 1980 and 2010, at a rate of -2.7%,
and -1.0% per annum respectively, and the decrease was highest between
1991 and 2000, at a rate of -6,6%, and -3.6% per annum respectively. However,
there was a reversal in the trend in Temerloh since then, as the population
grew at 1.7% per annum between 2000 and 2010. Julat and Betong, both in
Sarawak had a contrasting demographic trend - the population of Julat
decreased by half between 2000 and 2010 but that of Betong increased during
since 1991 after registering a sharp decline between 1980 and 1991.

Births and Deaths
The fertility rate and mortality rate in Malaysia have fallen to a very low
level. However, wide variations in the fertility and mortality rates persist across

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