KUALA LUMPUR: Petaling district has surpassed the gross domestic product (GDP) of all states except for Kuala Lumpur, which stood at RM217.4 billion, in 2020.
Petaling's GDP exceeded RM100 billion during the year, with a value of RM165.7 billion, said the Department of Statistics of Malaysia (DOSM).
Chief statistician of Malaysia Datuk Sri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the five main districts contributed to the GDP were Petaling, Johor Bahru, Klang, Ulu Langat and Bintulu.
They collectively accounted for 34.8 per cent of the total GDP across 156 districts in Malaysia for 2020.
Within the period, Mohd Uzir said the average GDP per capita for all districts amounted to RM36,265 with 29 districts surpassed the average.
"Bintulu in Sarawak and Barat Daya in Pulau Pinang registered the highest GDP per capita values of RM227,834 and RM122,593 respectively," he said in a statement.
In classifying districts by GDP range, DOSM said 31 districts registered GDPs of less than RM500 million, comprising 25 and six districts in Sarawak and Sabah respectively, with Kabong in Sarawak recorded the lowest at RM59.5 million.
It said the economic value of these districts was in line with their low population density, which was less than 100 people per square kilometre.
Additionally, DOSM said 11 districts namely Ulu Langat and Gombak in Selangor, Bintulu and Kuching in Sarawak, Kinta in Perak, Seremban in Negri Sembilan, Barat Daya, Seberang Perai Tengah and Timur Laut in Penang, Melaka Tengah and Kuantan in Pahang demonstrated GDPs ranging from RM20 billion to less than RM50 billion.
This was followed by range of RM50 billion to less than RM100 billion, registered by Johor Bahru (RM64.3 billion) and Klang (RM50.2 billion).
In the context of economic sectors, DOSM said 105 districts were dominated by the services sector, while 38 were led by agriculture and 13 by manufacturing sector.
As of 2020, the estimated population across all 156 districts in Malaysia is about 29.98 million.
Petaling (Selangor) has the highest population, totalling 2.3 million, followed by Johor Bahru in Johor (1.7 million) and three other districts in Selangor namely Ulu Langat (1.4 million), Klang (1.1 million) and Gombak (942,000).
Mohd Uzir said Petaling, Gombak, Klang, Ulu Langat and Johor Bahru had the highest number of labour forces, collectively accounting for 26.0 per cent of the total labour force across all districts.
A total of 50 districts have demonstrated a Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) exceeding the national average of 68.4 per cent.
Petaling in Selangor, Beluran in Sabah, Klang in Selangor, Seberang Perai Selatan in Pulau Pinang, and Sepang in Selangor exhibiting the highest LFPRs at 76.9 per cent, 76.5 per cent, 76.4 per cent, 75.9 and 75.8 per cent respectively.
The lowest unemployment rate was recorded in Jasin at 1.6 per cent, followed by Batu Pahat (Johor), Melaka Tengah (Melaka), and Ulu Selangor (Selangor) at 2.1 per cent respectively, and Muar (Johor) at 2.3 per cent.
From the perspective of poverty, DOSM highlighted that Sepang (Selangor) has the lowest rate of absolute poverty.
On the other hand, it said the districts with the highest rates of poverty were Pitas, Tongod and Kota Marudu in Sabah, with 53, 51 and 50 impoverished households for every 1,000 households.
Following these were Kecil Lojing in Kelantan (44) and Beluran in Sabah (38).