SHAH ALAM: The size of the average Malaysian household has shrunk over the past 10 years, revealed the latest population and household census by the Department of Statistics.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said according to the 2020 Malaysia Population and Housing main findings report, the national average household has dropped from 3.8 persons in 2020 from 4.3 in 2010.
He said the latest census showed Kuala Lumpur and Penang recorded among the lowest average household sizes with 3.5 persons.
The situation however is different in Kelantan and Sabah which are the two states with the highest average household sizes that are above the national figure.
"Kelantan has the highest average household size of 4.9 persons followed by Sabah at 4.7 persons.
"This means that the number of children in one house in Kelantan is many compared to other states," he told reporters here today.
He did not rule out the cost of living may affect the average household size in Kuala Lumpur and Penang as compared to the situation in Kelantan and Sabah.
"Cost of living maybe among the factors (which contributed to the low average household size in Penang and Kuala Lumpur).
"We could not do a complete analysis. Generally, if we are residing in the city such as Kuala Lumpur, it will be difficult to stay in an apartment with only two bedrooms if we have many children," he said.
Among other highlights of the report included the growth of the population which increased by 1.7 per cent as of 2020.
"This is something that we need to pay attention to since we are a nation that still needs manpower (among the younger generation) for the country to prosper," said Mustapa,
"During the last census conducted in 2010, our country's compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) was more than two per cent," he said.