Surprisingly it may seem that the number of vehicles in the country has exceeded the population in Malaysia.

• a total of 33.3 million registered vehicles recorded in 2021.
• the number registered vehicles has now exceeds the population in Malaysia. 

Last year, Malaysia recorded 33.3 million registered vehicles while the population stood at 32.6 million.

According to road safety expert Professor Dr. Kulanthayan K.C Mani of Universiti Putra Malaysia, of the 33.3 million registered vehicles, 47.3% were cars, 46.6% were motorcycles, while the remaining 4.7% were good vehicles.

Dr. Kulanthayan said the booming of vehicle registration over the past few years until 2021 could be a significant contributor to the traffic congestion around the country, especially in Klang Valley.

He said that while the nation’s population increased between 300,000 to 400,000 annually, bringing the total to 32.6 million in 2021, the number of registered vehicles grows almost a million yearly.

“What is surprising here is that the vehicle population in 2019 was 31.2 million. Subsequently, it increased by one million every year. In 2021, it was registered at 33.3 million.

“For the first time, in 2021, the trend of vehicle population outpaced the human population. Over all these years, it has always been the reverse.

“The vehicle population now is high. If this trend continues yearly where vehicles are rising to the tune of one million, then we are going to face even more horrendous traffic congestion,” he explained. – NST