Population projection for development planning in Malaysia

The primary objective of development is to satisfy the basic needs of the population. For effective planning, there is a need to have a good knowledge of the size and characteristics of the target population. Hence, population projections are essential for development and business planning. The accuracy of population projection depends on the quality of data on the current population, and how accurately one can predict the demographic processes. We provide population projection up to year 2040, based on the most likely demographic scenarios bearing in mind the socio-economic changes. The population projection is then used to estimate the requirements for education, health and economic sectors up to 2020, covering the 11th Malaysia Plan period. These projections at the national level are meant to be illustrative as there is a need to have more detailed breakdown for the various sub-groups and regions in the country. Functional population projections must be updated from time to time to take into account the changing socio-economic conditions of the country.