The department said there were 9.26 million Bumiputeras in the labour force, of whom 5.58 million were males and 3.68 million females.
In a statement, it said the community’s labour force participation had increased to 65.8% in 2021 compared with 64.9% in 2020, though the unemployment rate among Bumiputeras was 5%.
Male Bumiputera participation in the labour force was significantly higher than female at 78.9% and 52.6%, respectively.
“The share of the Bumiputera labour force having educational attainment at secondary school and below was at 64.8%. Meanwhile, 35.2% of the Bumiputera labour force attained tertiary education (2020: 34.7%),” it said.
In releasing its first ever statistics specifically on the Bumiputera community, the department said they accounted for 92.7% and 84.7% of assistant medical officers and nurses, respectively, in 2021.
Architects, lawyers and accountants seemed to be less-favoured professions, with the community making up 41.7%, 38.5% and 31.4% of these professionals.
Some 3.63 million Bumiputeras graduated from higher education institutions last year, though the labour force participation rate among male graduates was 87.3%, a slight decrease compared to the 88.5% recorded in 2020.
“Meanwhile, the labour force participation rate among female graduates increased to 81.9%(2020: 81.0%),” it said.
Bumiputera population at 21.1 million in 2022
The Bumiputera population in Malaysia stood at 21.13 million this year, making up about 65% of the nation’s total population of 32.4 million.
The department said the Bumiputera population stood at 20.9 million in 2021, which meant there was a growth rate of 1.1% over the year.
It said that there was a gender ratio of 102 males to 100 females in the community.
In 2021, there were 357,140 live births among Bumiputeras, while life expectancy for males stood at 70.5 years, followed by 74.7 years for females.
“The total fertility rate for a Bumiputera female in 2021 was 2.1 (2020: 2.2). Furthermore, the number of deaths for Bumiputeras recorded in 2021 was 138,868.
“The three main causes of medically confirmed deaths for Bumiputeras in 2021 were Covid-19 infections (17,654 deaths), ischemic heart disease (13,563) and pneumonia (10,914).”