KUALA LUMPUR: Kelantan has the lowest urbanisation rate in Malaysia, with only 44.1 per cent of its population living in urban areas.
Data from the Statistics Department's Population and Housing Census 2020: Urban and Rural revealed the east coast state is the only state that has less than 50 per cent of its population living in urban areas.
This is followed by Pahang (52.8 per cent), Perlis (53.8 per cent), Sabah (54.7 per cent) and Sarawak (57 per cent).
However, central states Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya recorded 100 per cent of their population living in urban areas.
This is followed by Selangor (95.8 per cent), Penang (92.5 per cent) and Melaka (90.9 per cent).
Selangor has the largest urban population of 6.7 million compared with 4.9 million in 2010, followed by Johor at 3.1 million (2010: 2.3 million) and Kuala Lumpur at two million (2010: 1.6 million).
Sabah has the highest rural population of 1.5 million.
The country's urban population has expanded from three million in 1970 to 24.4 million
in 2020, while the rural population increased to 8.1 million person in 2020 from 7.5 million in 1970.
The urbanisation rate in Malay-sia has tripled from 28.4 per cent in 1970 to 75.1 per cent in 2020, caused by natural population increase, migration and demarcation.
