Malaysia’s Penang state will overtake Perak within the next two decades to become the country’s “oldest”, according to new government statistics.
At present, 15.3 per cent of Perak’s population are aged 60 or older, followed by Penang with 14.9 per cent, Melaka with 13.9 per cent, Perlis with 13.1 per cent and Kedah with 12.8 per cent.
But new projections from Malaysia’s Department of Statistics predict that by 2040, the proportion of over 60s in Penang will rise to 26.2 per cent, followed by Kuala Lumpur with 24.5 per cent and Selangor with 22.4 per cent.