Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – The Malaysian Government plans to table a White Paper on the National Ageing Blueprint (NAB) 2025–2045 in Parliament later this year as part of efforts to balance demographic changes with sustainable development and prepare the country for becoming an aged nation by 2048.
Speaking at the Malaysian Parliament on January 28, Minister of Economy Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir said the NAB is designed to coordinate strategic adjustments at the federal, ministerial and state levels, while ensuring the engagement and support of all relevant stakeholders. The blueprint identifies five key strategic thrusts, namely macroeconomics and fiscal policy; education; skills and workforce development; lifelong health; and social protection and long-term care.
The minister noted that the primary focus of the NAB has also been translated into specific strategies and initiatives under the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) to prepare the country for the challenges of an ageing population. Among the strategies to be implemented are prioritising national productivity and competitiveness, preparing for an aged nation, and labour market reforms, including increasing the participation English type to start searching of older workers, women, and persons with disabilities (PwD).
Mohd Nasir stressed that proactive measures have been adopted in response to projections by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), which indicate that the national fertility rate is expected to decline sharply to 0.7 children per woman aged between 15 and 49 by 2050. He warned that the downward trend from 1.6 children per woman in 2024 would directly affect the size of the working-age population and, in turn, Malaysia’s future economic growth potential.
DOSM data shows that Malaysia’s population stood at 34.2 million in 2025 and is projected to rise to 36.4 million by 2030 and 38.3 million by 2035. However, marriage rates have shown a declining trend, falling from 6.6 marriages per 1,000 people in 2022 to 5.7 per 1,000 in 2023. This shift is expected to shorten reproductive periods and further contribute to lower fertility rates.
Against this backdrop, the Malaysian Government considers the formulation of the NAB 2025–2045 a proactive and necessary step to prepare the nation for the realities of an ageing population./.
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