Petaling Jaya skyline and rail tracks at Taman Jaya Petaling Jaya skyline and rail tracks at Taman Jaya
Petaling Jaya viewed from Taman Jaya on July 9, 2024. File photo. Petaling remains Malaysia's most populous administrative district in the 2026 estimates. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; displayed at reduced size. *angys* / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

Petaling in Selangor remained Malaysia's most populous administrative district in 2026, with an estimated 2.4 million residents, according to government figures released Wednesday.

Population estimates for Petaling, Johor Bahru and Ulu Langat
Petaling leads the population rankings among Malaysian administrative districts. Figures are preliminary midyear estimates for 2026. Graphic created for this draft; data: Department of Statistics Malaysia.

Johor Bahru ranked second with 1.8 million residents, followed by Ulu Langat in Selangor with 1.5 million, the Department of Statistics Malaysia said in its district population estimates.

The same three districts led the population rankings in the department's 2025 release, with the same totals when rounded to one decimal place. Those rounded figures do not establish that their populations were unchanged, because smaller movements can disappear when expressed in millions.

Population size and the pace of growth also produced different rankings. Kecil Lojing in Kelantan recorded the highest annual population growth at 2.1%, followed by Gedong in Sarawak at 2% and Daro, also in Sarawak, at 1.8%. These percentages describe changes relative to each district's population, rather than the number of residents added.

Age profiles varied across districts. In Sarawak, residents aged 65 and older accounted for 16.2% of Lubok Antu's population, compared with 15.2% in Lingga and 15% in Pantu.

At the younger end of the age distribution, children below 15 represented 31.8% of Gua Musang's population in Kelantan. Tumpat recorded 31.2%, while Lojing recorded 31%. All three shares exceeded the national figure of 21.2%.

Sarawak districts also led the rankings for the share of residents aged 15 to 64. Sebauh recorded 79.4%, followed by Belaga at 79% and Telang Usan at 78.9%. The comparisons show how district age structures can differ substantially from the national average.

The district findings followed the department's national population estimates released July 31. Malaysia's population was estimated at 34.4 million in 2026, compared with 34.2 million in 2025, with annual growth of 0.5%.

Citizens accounted for 31 million residents, or 90.2% of the population, while noncitizens numbered 3.4 million, or 9.8%. The citizen population grew 0.6% from a year earlier, while the noncitizen population declined 0.2%.

The department reported a natural population increase of 175,119, meaning births exceeded deaths by that amount. It attributed the declining natural increase to lower fertility and a rising number of deaths. Natural increase is one component of population change; migration also contributes to the overall total.

People aged 65 and older made up 8.4% of the national population, up from 8% a year earlier. Children younger than 15 accounted for 21.2%, down from 21.6%, while the working-age share, covering ages 15 to 64, remained at 70.4%.

The country's median age increased to 31.7 years from 31.3 years. Its old-age dependency ratio also rose, reaching 11.9 people aged 65 and older for every 100 working-age residents, compared with 11.4 in 2025.

The total dependency ratio nevertheless edged down to 42 from 42.1, as the lower proportion of children offset the increase in older residents. The measure compares children and older people with the working-age population; it does not measure employment or actual financial support.

The district figures are preliminary midyear estimates based on the 2020 census and updated for births, deaths and migration. They remain subject to revision. The estimates track population changes between censuses, so the 2026 figures do not represent a new census conducted in every district.