21st Population Census Conference

19 – 21 November 2003
Kyoto, Japan

Analysis of the 2000 Round of Censuses

SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF
THE ELDERLY IN MALAYSIA

Rabieyah Mat & Hajar Md. Taha

Department of Statistics, Malaysia

 Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION 2

2. BACKGROUND 3

3. POPULATION TRENDS AND PATTERNS 3

4. SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS 9

5. ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS 14

6. CONCLUSION 20

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 SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ELDERLY IN MALAYSIA

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Ageing had basically been a phenomenon of population trends in the developed,
industrialized nations since some three to four decades ago and was in fact
primarily the result of successful efforts to lower fertility levels and increase
longevity. However, the developing world is increasingly experiencing the same
trend of higher growth in the numbers and proportion of the elderly. Thus the
challenges to plan and prepare for an ageing population is a growing concern in
many nations. Social institutions and government policies need to adapt to
changing age structures to cater for an ever-increasing demand for the needs of the
elderly.

1.2 This paper provides an overview of the ageing trends in Malaysia and focuses on
socio-economic characteristics of the elderly. As a fast developing nation,
addressing the needs of different social, economic and demographic groups is vital
to balanced growth in the nation and therefore, understanding past, present and
future trends among the older population has been an especially growing concern
over the last decade or so. The areas of socio-economic characteristics that have
been included in the paper are especially relevant to create an awareness as to the
pace of planning and implementation of initiatives necessary for the elderly
population in Malaysia

1.3 The information used in this report is derived primarily from the population
censuses of Malaysia, as well as demographic statistics derived from vital
registration data.

2
2. BACKGROUND

2.1 Malaysia is a South-east Asian nation with a population of 25 million (2003

estimate). It constitutes two regions i.e. Peninsular Malaysia (situated south of
Thailand) and the 2 largest states of Sabah and Sarawak - referred to as East
Malaysia - separated by the South China Sea and located at the north of Borneo
island. A total of 15 states make up the country, each with their respective elected
state governments. The federal government is a parliamentary democracy
comprising a House of Representatives (elected) as well as a Senate (appointed).
Malaysia also has a constitutional monarchy. The nation attained independence
from Britain in August 1957 and in the 46 years as a sovereign nation, has achieved
much economic and social progress.

2.2 The population of Malaysia is multi-racial, made up of several ethnic groups,

comprising of Malays and other indigenous groups (63%), Chinese (24%) Indians
(7%) and 1% “Others”, as well as over 5% of non-Malaysian citizens who mainly
comprise immigrant labour. Significant changes have taken place in the Malaysian
population structure over the last few decades mainly as a result of the
“demographic transition” experienced since the 1960’s and ‘70s which saw decline
in birth rates from 36.1 in 1965 to 23.2 in 2002. Improving health conditions has
also resulted in longer life expectancies and the annual death rate has dropped
from 7.5 in 1965 to 4.4 in 2002.

3. POPULATION TRENDS AND PATTERNS

3.1 As is the case in most nations of the world, a review of factors of population change
in Malaysia would inevitably lead to a discussion of issues such as birth rates and
total fertility rates, infant mortality, age at marriage, etc. which throw light on
fertility trends and their effects. However, together with fertility trends, the ageing
of the Malaysian population is increasingly seen as an important component of the
demographic profile and a gradually changing pattern in the population age
structure warrants thorough investigation of the demography of ageing, as well as
the long term implications of these trends.

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3.2 Malaysia's population may still be considered 'youthful'. Although the full impact of
an ageing population has not hit Malaysian society as yet, the indications of an
ageing population are being recognised and much is being done to study and plan
for the impending changes. Government participation has been timely in ensuring
that this segment of the population is cared for and their potential utilized in the
coming years. The National Senior Citizens Policy passed in 1995, provides a basis
for planning and implementing appropriate measures. The demand for care and
services for the elderly is clearly being recognised and effective implementation of
policies is becoming crucial.

3.3 The actual age used in the definition of 'senior citizens' or 'elderly' has differed
among researchers and writers. However, the United Nations World Assembly On
Ageing held in Vienna, 1982, used '60 years and over' as the cut-off in
deliberating ageing trends. Consequently, Malaysian policy makers have adopted
this demarcation and is officially used in planning for senior citizens. This paper has
thus used the same age cut-off to refer to senior citizens in Malaysia.

3.4 The number of senior citizens in Malaysia almost doubled over the twenty years
from 1970-1991 from 546 thousand persons in 1970 to 1.03 million persons. The
numbers have increased by another 35 per cent over the last 10 years to 1.4 million
persons or 6.3 per cent of the total population in 2000 (Table 1). Based on
population projections, the number of senior citizens is likely to more than double to
3.4 million in the next twenty years.

Table 1: Past, present and future trends of senior citizens, Malaysia, 1960-2020

Number of Per cent of Growth rate of:

Year senior citizens total population
Elderly Total
('000) population population

1960 386.6 4.8 - -

1970 546.1 5.2 3.5 2.6
1980 745.2 5.7 3.1 2.3
1991 1,032.3 5.9 3.0 2.6
2000 1,398.5 6.3 3.4 2.6
2010 2,134.9 7.4 4.2 2.2
2020 3,439.6 9.9 4.8 1.9
2030 4,933.4 12.0 3.6 1.7

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3.5 The proportion of elderly Malaysians will grow from 6.3 per cent in 2000 to 12.0 per
cent or 4.9 million persons by the year 2030, thus doubling in proportion, but more
than tripling in numbers over the 30 year period. When growth rates of the total
population are compared with growth rates of the population aged 60 years and
over, a continual ageing pattern of the population is inevitable, assuming prevailing
trends persist.

3.6 An overview of the age-structure of the population for the past four censuses
between 1970-2000 reveals a significantly decreasing proportion of population in
the younger ages and a corresponding increase in the older age groups (Table 2).
In fact, the proportion of the population above age 15 shows increases in all the
sub-groups, indicating a continuing ageing trend in the coming years.

Table 2: Percentage of the population in major age groups,

Malaysia, 1970, 1980, 1991 and 2000

Age group 1970 1980 1991 2000

0-14 44.9 39.6 36.7 33.5
15-44 40.7 45.6 47.6 48.8
45-59 9.2 9.2 9.9 11.6
60-74 4.4 4.6 4.6 5.0
75+ 0.8 1.1 1.2 1.3

3.7 This trend in the age structure is also evident in population projections. The
age-pyramid shown in Table 3 for the years 1991 and 2030 depicts the expected
trend in the population structure as the shape moves towards a pyramid with a
much smaller base.

3.8 It has generally been recognised that even among the elderly, different age groups
display different characteristics and are not homogenous in their needs. A
breakdown into two groups, namely, the 'young-old' (those aged 60-74 years) and
the 'old-old' (those aged 75 years and over), recorded 277 thousand persons in the
old-old category (20 percent of the elderly) in the 2000 Census and this group is
projected to be 1.1 million in the year 2030 (22 percent). As larger numbers of the
elderly population move into the old-old category, there will consequently be a
greater need for facilities and care of the aged.

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 Table 3 : Age - Sex Pyramid, Malaysia , 1991, 2030

75+

70-74

65-69

60-64

55-59

50-54

45-49 1991
40-44

35-39 2030
30-34

25-29

20-24

15-19

10-14

05-09

00-04

12 10 8 6 4 2 0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12

3.9 Some indicators of age calculated for Malaysia as shown in Table 4, provide an idea
as to the status of the Malaysian population in terms of the demographic profile on
ageing. The median age of the population of Malaysia increased over six years
between 1970 and 2000, from 17.4 years to 23.6 years, reflecting a progressively
older population. The dependency ratio reflects the burden of support that is
placed on the working age population (15-59 years). The trend is clearly towards an
increasing burden of support on the working age population with the ratio declining
from 82.6 in 1980 to 64.3 in the year 2000. Old age index, depicting the
proportion of elderly over the young age group (0-14 years) shows significant
increases over the 30 year period from 11.7 in 1970 to 18.5 in 2000. This index is
also indicative of the decreasing proportion of the young as a result of declining
birth rates which have fallen from 32.4 in 1970, to 22.8 in 2000. Life expectancy,
is an indicator of the number of years a person is likely to live at the time of birth.
Life expectancy at birth for Malaysia for the year 2000 is an average of 72.6 years
(or 70.2 years for males and 75.0 years for females) and has risen

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 Table 4: Age and related demographic indicators, Malaysia,
1970-2000
____________________________________________________________________
Indicators 1970 1980 1991 2000
________________________________________________________
Median age 17.4 19.6 21.9 23.6

Dependency ratio 100.4 82.6 74.0 64.3

Old age index 11.7 14.3 16.0 18.5
Life expectancy:
Male 61.6* 66.4* 69.2 70.2
Female 65.6* 70.5* 73.4 75.0

* For Peninsular Malaysia only

3.10 The sex ratio among senior citizens in Malaysia was 91.4 in 2000 (Table 5). Sex
ratio among the elderly in 1970 (108.4) reflects the ageing of the male dominated
immigrant population that was characteristic in the pre-World War Two era in
Malaysia and thus shows a higher male bias due to the presence of early migrants
among senior citizens. However, a greater balance in the sex ratio had taken place
by the time of the 1991 Census. Interestingly, a trend towards higher ratios is
indicated among the young-old and it is possible that higher life expectancies
among males is a contributory factor, whereas among the old-old, women still live
longer.

Table 5 : Sex ratio for senior citizens by age group and

ethnic group, Malaysia, 1970-2000

Age group 1970 1980 1991 2000

Total (60+) 108.4 97.2 89.6 91.4

60-74 112.4 98.2 91.7 94.7

75+ 89.5 93.4 82.2 79.2

3.11 Malaysia’s multi-ethnic population composition displays different demographic

characteristics among the various groups and a cursory look at the elderly
population by major ethnic groups (Table 6), reveals that the Chinese have the
highest proportion of senior citizens at 8.8 per cent. The prevalence of low mortality
rates, high life expectancy (both of which increase the absolute numbers of senior

7
 citizens) and low fertility (which reduces the proportion of the young population),
have been characteristic of the Chinese population over a longer period than for
other ethnic groups. In fact, all other groups are below the 6 per cent level which is
considered the benchmark of an ageing population. The Bumiputera and Indian
elderly have increased at a slower rate and constitute 5.7 per cent and 5.6 per cent
of their respective groups, in the year 2000.

Table 6: Percentage of senior citizens within ethnic

group, Malaysia, 1991 and 2000

Major ethnic groups 1991 2000

Malaysian citizens
Bumiputera* 5.4 5.7
Chinese 7.6 8.8
Indians 5.4 5.6
Others 6.9 4.8
Non Malaysian citizens 2.7 3.1
Total 5.9 6.3
Includes the majority ethnic group “Malays” and “Other Bumiputera
(Indigenous)” groups

3.12 The projected senior citizen population for the year 2020, reveals that the low
fertility levels experienced among the Chinese and Indians in Malaysia, will
significantly impact the age structure and result in a doubling in proportion of the
elderly within these two ethnic groups over the next twenty years. The Bumiputera
senior citizens, on the other hand, are projected to increase at a comparatively
slower rates from 5.7 percent in 2000 to 8.0 per cent in 2020. Higher fertility levels
among the Bumiputera (CBR of 25.4 compared to 17.4 for Chinese and 20.6 for
Indians in the year 2000) is likely to contribute to this trend, as a larger base of the
younger population is prevalent for this community.

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 Table 7: Percentage of senior citizens within ethnic group and
age cohorts, Malaysia, 2000

Major ethnic groups Young-old Old-old Total Old-old

(60-74 years) (75+ years) (1991)
Malaysian citizens
Bumiputera* 80.0 20.0 100.0 18.5
Chinese 80.9 19.1 100.0 26.1
Indians 83.0 17.0 100.0 17.7
Others 76.8 23.2 100.0 22.2
Non Malaysian 69.7 30.3 100.0 21.7
citizens
Total 78.8 19.8 100.0 21.2

3.13 An observation of age cohorts of senior citizens in the 2000 Census among the
various ethnic groups in Malaysia, indicates lower proportions of ‘old-old’ among the
Indian community as compared to the other groups. When compared to the
proportion of the ‘old-old’ at the 1991 Census, the Bumiputera and ‘Others’ are seen
to have a small increase, whereas the Chinese and Indians indicate a decline
among the ‘old-old’. The Chinese have especially experienced a decline in the
proportion of this cohort and is likely to have been caused by higher percentages of
the younger population moving to the ‘young-old; cohort.

4. SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS

4.1 Family structure of Malaysian society is fast changing as a result of modernization

and urbanization of the population. It has already been recognized that changing
traditional roles of women, increased educational opportunities (especially for
women), delayed age at marriage, and smaller family size, are characteristics that
have contributed to the social implications on ageing.

4.2 A look at marital status patterns for senior citizens compared to the rest of the
population reveals, understandably, that widowhood is especially high since higher
levels of marital dissolution takes place with the death of either spouse among older
couples. Table 8 shows that almost one in every three senior citizens was classified
in the 'widowed' category at the time of the 2000 Census.

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4.3 Of particular interest is the contrast between widowed male elderly, who
constituted only 11 per cent of male senior citizens and female widowed who
constituted close to half (46 per cent) of the female elderly. As seen earlier, females
experience longer life expectancy, resulting in significantly larger proportions and
numbers of widowed females especially in the 'old-old' age band. While among old-
old males 73 per cent were married and 23 per cent were widowed, a completely
reverse pattern was observed for females, with 27 per cent married and 68 per cent
widowed.

Table 8 : Percentage distribution of senior citizens by marital

status, sex and broad age group, Malaysia, 2000

Marital Male Female Total

Status
60-74 75+ Total 60-74 75+ Total 60-74 75+ Total
years years years years years years

Never married 2.2 1.9 2.2 2.0 1.4 1.9 2.1 1.7 2.0
Currently 88.3 73.0 85.5 56.0 27.3 49.9 71.7 47.4 66.9
married

Widowed 8.6 23.4 11.3 39.3 68.0 45.5 24.4 48.4 29.2
Divorced 0.9 1.6 1.0 2.6 3.2 2.7 1.8 2.5 1.9

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

4.4 The implication for planners and policy makers is that there needs to be some
emphasis given towards the care of older women, as spouses tend to be the main
care-givers for elderly males. In the Malaysian context, educational levels and
economic independence still lag far behind for elderly women compared to elderly
men.

4.5 The 2000 Population Census revealed that some 51 per cent of the senior citizens
had received no schooling at all (Table 9). This is all the same, a significant
improvement since 1970 when 3 out of every 4 senior citizens were without
schooling. The increasing proportion of the elderly who have had full secondary
education (from 1.2 per cent in 1970 to 4.4 per cent in 2000) as well as tertiary

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 Table 9: Percentage distribution of senior citizens by
educational level, Malaysia, 1970 - 2000

Level of schooling 1970 1980 1991 2000

Never attended school 75.0 73.2 63.1+ 51.3+

Primary level 22.3 23.1 31.5 37.4
Lower secondary level 1.3 1.8 2.4 4.9
Upper secondary level 1.2 1.5 2.1 4.4
Tertiary 0.3 0.4 0.9 2.0

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

+ Includes “Unknown” cases

education (from 0.3 per cent to 2.0 per cent respectively) is encouraging.
Involvement of senior citizens in social, economic or community activities would
differ in the context of their education attainment. With greater emphasis being
given by planners to encourage greater independence of future senior citizens, as
well as to provide opportunities for their involvement in the labour force and social
development, their educational profile at various time periods will be a pertinent
issue.

4.6 The proportion of elderly females with no schooling remained high at 65 per cent,
as compared to 36 per cent for males, in 2000 (Table 10). However, improvements
over the last decade is significant with at least 28 per cent having had primary
schooling. Present day educational levels for females among the younger
generation in Malaysia is equitable to that of males and thus an increasingly higher
proportion of female elderly with higher levels of schooling is envisaged in the years
ahead.

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 Table 10: Percentage of senior citizens by educational attainment
and sex, Malaysia, 1991, 2000

1991 2000
Level of schooling
Male Female Male Female

Never attended
school 44.4 79.8 36.4 65.0
Primary level 47.2 17.5 47.2 28.4
Lower secondary
level 3.5 1.4 6.8 3.2
Upper secondary
level 3.4 1.0 6.6 2.4
Tertiary 1.5 0.3 3.1 1.0

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

4.7 It is evident that the educational levels of the younger senior citizens is increasingly
improving as more of those with schooling as well as with higher attainment, enter
the senior citizen category. Table 11 also shows that education among females in
the ‘old-old’ cohort is significantly lacking and reflects the tendency of the early
decades of the last century when women were not given any priority for education.
Even among the ‘young-old,’ 61 per cent of the elderly females are without
education. The level of education among males in the ‘young-old’ cohort looks more
promising, with half of them having had at least primary education and about 11
percent having completed secondary and higher education. As expected, even
among the ‘old-old’ males, more than half had no schooling; however, some 5.4 per
cent had received secondary or higher level education.

Table 11: Percentage of senior citizens by educational attainment,

sex and age cohort, Malaysia, 2000

Males Females
Level of schooling
Young-old Old-old Young-old Old-old

Never attended school 32.4 53.9 60.9 80.4

Primary Level 49.5 37.0 31.7 16.1

Lower secondary level 7.5 3.8 3.6 1.6

Upper secondary level 7.3 3.7 2.8 1.3

Tertiary 3.3 1.7 1.1 0.6

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 The Family

4.8 Changes in Malaysian society brought about by modernization and development

have generally resulted in changing household and family structures, such as a
smaller family size and an increasing trend towards nuclear family households.
These developments have an effect on the family role as care-givers to the elderly.
As for senior citizens themselves life changes are experienced as they retire from
employment, lose their spouse, decline in health and have dispersing families.
Patterns of living arrangements among the elderly have implications for the social
needs of future cohorts of senior citizens.

4.9 The average household size declined from 5.2 persons per household in 1980 to 4.6
persons in 2000. The prevalence of extended families is on the decline, from 58 per
cent in 1991 to 49 per cent in 2000 (Table 12), and traditional inclination towards
married children living with their parents will be less of a social feature in coming
years. Some 7 per cent (or 94 thousand) of the elderly lived alone as single-
member households and a much higher percentage was observed for females
compared to males. Elderly living in nuclear families increased from 31 per cent in
1991 to 38 per cent in 2000. Among the senior citizens who lived as nuclear
families, 14 per cent lived as a couple alone.

Table 12 : Percentage distribution of senior citizens by

household type and sex, Malaysia, 2000

2000
Household type 1991
Male Female Total
Single member 4.3 9.0 6.8 6.8
Nuclear family household 47.9 28.1 37.6 30.6
Extended family 43.8 54.1 49.2 57.8
Related members 2.9 8.0 5.6 3.5
Unrelated members 1.1 0.8 1.0 1.4

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

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5. ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS

5.1 The issue of economic activity among senior citizens is an important one as it has
direct bearing not only on the well-being of the elderly, but to a large extent, also
addresses the issue of dependency on the younger, economically productive
segment of the population. Participation in the labour force not only ensures
financial independence but also contributes overall to the economy of the
population, although in a small proportion.

Table 13: Percentage distribution of employed senior citizens by

employment status, Malaysia, 1980, 1991 and 2000

Per cent
distribution of
Employment Status 1980 1991 2000 total
population
(2000)
Employer 3.7 3.4 4.1 3.3

Employee 22.4 20.6 25.9 71.8

Self-employed 59.1 70.7 66.8 23.3

Unpaid Family Worker 14.8 5.3 3.2 1.6

Total Employed 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Percent of senior
citizens who are 32.9 23.9 22.8
employed

5.2 The 2000 Census of Malaysia estimates that only 23 per cent of the population over
the age of 60, are employed and this is a decline from 33 per cent in 1980. Table
13 reveals that of those employed, the majority, or 67 per cent are self-employed
while another 26 per cent are employees. The proportion of Unpaid Family Workers
have significantly dropped over the last 20 years (from 15 per cent in 1980 to 3 per
cent in 2000) and this is attributed to the fact that agricultural activities, which
generally account for a high percentage of family workers, have overall declined in
the Malaysian economy and this is especially observed among the older population.

14
 This trend also accounts for the decline in the percentage of those who are self-
employed, since 1991. It should be noted that the increase in the self-employed
category observed for the elderly in 1991 was due to a movement to other non-
agricultural occupations, particularly in sales.

Table 14: Percentage distribution of employed senior citizens

by employment status, Malaysia, 1991, 2000

Employment 1991 2000

Status
Male Female Male Female
Employer 4.0 1.2 4.4 2.6
Employee 21.7 16.4 25.6 27.1
Self Employed 72.7 63.1 68.2 61.2
Unpaid Family
1.6 19.2 1.8 9.1
Worker
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

5.3 The increase in the proportion of employees is indicative of an increasing willingness

to take on service and sales jobs from employers, as well as perhaps a slowly
growing population of senior citizens who are better educated and thus are able to
find employment in the labour market. Interestingly, Table 14 shows that this is
more significant among the female elderly whose proportion rose from 16 percent in
1991 who were employees, to 27 per cent in 2000. The slowly rising proportions of
senior citizens who are employers is an encouraging trend as a reflection of both
better economic participation as well as economic independence.

5.4 Changing occupational patterns can be observed among the older population in
Malaysia and the most obvious trend that is seen in Table 15 is the decline in the
involvement of senior citizens in agricultural activities from 60 per cent of the
employed in 1991 to 51 percent in 2000. However, when compared with the
participation of the overall employed population aged 15-64 years in agriculture, it
is evident that this activity is still significant among the elderly. Also of interest to
note is that higher proportions of the senior citizens are active in the category

15
 “Legislators, Senior Officials & Managers” (8.9 percent) as compared to the overall
population (6.9 per cent). This is of course an expected trend as occupations of this
nature generally require the experience and long service that come with age.

Table 15: Percentage distribution of senior citizens by occupation

and sex, Malaysia, 1991 and 2000

Distribution for total

employed population
Occupation 1991 2000 aged 15-64 years
2000
Legislators, Senior
4.9 8.9 6.9
Officials & Managers
Professionals 1.0 1.6 5.7
Technicians & Associate
10.6 3.1 12.0
Professionals
Clerical Workers 1.0 1.3 9.7
Service Workers and Shop
5.6 11.6 13.1
& Market Sales Workers
Skilled Agricultural &
60.0 51.0 14.2
Fishery Workers
Craft & Related Trades
4.5 5.5 9.2
Workers
Plant & Machine-operators
3.8 5.5 16.0
& Assemblers
Elementary Occupations 8.4 11.4 13.0

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0

5.5 Clerical occupations are not particularly popular among the elderly, although there
is an increasing trend to move into service and sales occupations, probably more on
a cottage industry basis. Semi-professional occupations (technicians and associate
professionals) is also recording declining participation among the elderly.

5.6 Occupational distribution of senior citizens by gender reveal that the decline in
agriculture is particularly among the elderly female (Table 16), who recorded a 15
percentage point decrease between 1991 and 2000. A significant shift has been to
Service and Sales occupations by both male and female elderly. Noteworthy is the

16
 fact that both male and female senior citizens are increasingly involved as
‘Legislators, Senior Officials & Managers.’

Table 16: Percentage distribution of senior citizens by occupation

and sex, Malaysia, 1991 and 2000

Occupation Males Females

1991 2000 1991 2000
Legislators, Senior Officials
5.3 9.4 3.5 7.1
& Managers
Professionals 1.0 1.8 0.9 1.0
Technicians & Associate
11.0 3.0 8.9 3.8
Professionals
Clerical Workers 1.2 1.3 0.5 1.6
Service Workers and Shop &
5.8 10.8 4.8 14.8
Market Sales Workers
Skilled Agricultural & Fishery
58.6 51.1 65.3 50.7
Workers
Craft & Related Trades
4.6 5.9 4.4 4.0
Workers
Plant & Machine-operators &
4.4 6.1 1.7 2.9
Assemblers
Elementary Occupations 8.0 10.7 10.0 14.1

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

5.7 Table 17 on the distribution of senior citizens by the industrial sector they are
involved in, again reveals that although agriculture remains the main activity (50
per cent in 2000), it is fast declining in importance. A shift is gradually occurring in
greater involvement in manufacturing, wholesale & retail trade, transport, storage &
communication, as well as in public administration & defence. A comparison with
the distribution of the national level economically active population aged 15-64
years, reveals similar proportions of senior citizens engaged in wholesale & retails
trade (about 13 per cent), hotels & restaurants (about 6 percent). An increase in
the proportion of the elderly in construction activities, from 2.8 per cent to 4.4 per
cent, is noteworthy.

17
 Table 17: Percentage distribution of senior citizens by industry,
Malaysia, 1991, 2000

Distribution for total

employed population
Industry 1991 2000 aged 15-64 years
2000
Agriculture, Hunting &
60.0 50.0 14.4
Forestry
Fishing 2.6 2.4 1.3
Mining & Quarrying 0.3 0.2 0.3
Manufacturing 5.5 7.2 22.5
Electricity, Gas & Water
0.1 0.2 0.7
Supply
Construction 2.8 4.4 7.3
Wholesale & Retail Trade 12.8 13.4 12.5
Hotels & Restaurants 5.4 6.1 6.0
Transport, Storage &
2.7 4.3 6.0
Communications
Finance 0.4 0.6 3.2
Real Estate, Renting &
0.8 2.0 3.4
Business Activities
Public Administration &
1.7 4.0 9.9
Defence
Education 0.6 1.5 6.5
Health & Social Work 0.7 0.9 2.3
Other Community Social &
2.8 1.8 1.7
Personal Service Activities
Private Household with
1.0 1.0 1.9
Employed Persons
Extra-territorial Organisation
0.0 0.1 0.0
& Bodies

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0

5.8 In terms of gender differences, female senior citizens have increased their
participation in wholesale & retail trade, hotels & restaurants, and in manufacturing
(Table 18). Meanwhile, males are mainly in wholesale & retail trade, manufacturing,
construction, transport, storage & communication, as well as in public
administration & defence.

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 Table 18: Percentage distribution of senior citizens by industry
and sex, Malaysia, 1991, 2000

Males Females
Industry
1991 2000 1991 2000

Agriculture, Hunting &

58.2 49.7 66.5 51.2
Forestry
Fishing 3.3 2.9 0.2 0.3
Mining & Quarrying 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0
Manufacturing 5.3 6.8 6.2 9.0
Electricity, Gas & Water
0.1 0.2 0.0 0.0
Supply
Construction 3.5 5.3 0.2 0.7
Wholesale & Retail Trade 13.3 13.4 10.9 13.4
Hotels & Restaurants 4.8 4.9 7.5 11.0
Transport, Storage &
3.4 5.2 0.2 0.8
Communications
Finance 0.4 0.7 0.1 0.4
Real Estate, Renting &
1.0 2.2 0.2 1.3
Business Activities
Public Administration &
2.0 4.5 0.6 1.8
Defence
Education 0.6 1.3 0.5 2.3
Health & Social Work 0.5 0.7 1.2 1.9
Other Community Social &
3.0 1.7 2.1 2.1
Personal Service Activities
Private Household with
0.4 0.3 3.5 3.6
Employed Persons
Extra-territorial Organisation
0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0
& Bodies

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Total

5.9 The trend in economic activity among the elderly in Malaysia, is a slowly changing
pattern that is closely tied in with changes in social conditions and educational
attainment of the elderly.

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6. CONCLUSION

6.1 The demographic and social trends of population ageing in Malaysia is moving at a
quicker pace than observed 10 years ago, as is evident in the data collected in the
2000 Census of Malaysia. These indicators are of course the basis for planning and
preparing for the well-being, as well as optimizing the potential, of future senior
citizens in the country. The overall trends reveal an increasingly ageing population
that will continue to grow both in numbers and proportion.

6.2 The senior citizens of Malaysia are growing at a faster rate than the total population
and will more than double in numbers from the current 1.4 million to 3.4 million in
2020. Females are the majority among the elderly. Education levels are rising and
this has implications in terms of the possible economic involvement of senior
citizens. The traditional pattern of the older population being primarily involved in
agriculture has significantly changed and their participation is now in more varied
occupations.

6.3 Changing social characteristics such as nuclearization of households, higher

education levels, and economic issues such as changing occupation trends, are
factors that affect the population as a whole and will eventually contribute to the
overall scenario of the future elderly.

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