PUTRAJAYA, Nov 20 — Malaysia recorded 5.92 million graduates in 2022, while the graduate’s unemployment rate stood at 3.7 per cent, according to the Graduates Statistics 2022 released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) today.

Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the number of graduates in Malaysia rose 5.1 per cent in 2022 to 5.92 million persons from 5.63 million persons in 2021.

"A positive economic environment throughout 2022 has led to the increase of the number of graduates in Malaysia which has reached a substantial number of 5.92 million persons, composed of 23.1 per cent of the population in the working age of 15 years and above,” he said in a statement today.

Mohd Uzir said degree graduates comprised 53.9 per cent or equivalent to 3.19 million persons while diploma graduates comprised 46.1 per cent or 2.73 million persons.

"Out of total graduates during the year, 5.06 million was in the labour force resulting in graduates’ labour force participation rate (GLFPR) of 85.4 per cent,” he said.

Year-on-year comparison, the number of degree graduates in the labour force rose by 5.6 per cent while diploma graduates increased by 5.5 per cent, he said.

Mohd Uzir said the number of employed graduates went up by 6.0 per cent in 2022 to register 4.87 million persons compared to 4.59 million persons in 2021.

"Around two-thirds or 65.6 per cent were employed in the skilled occupations category, accounting for 3.19 million persons,” he said.

The highest share of employed persons in the skilled category which comprised 38.4 per cent or 1.87 million persons were employed in professional occupations, followed by technicians and associate professionals with 17.7 per cent or 860,400 persons.

Employed graduates in the semi-skilled category which accounted for 32.8 per cent or 1.60 million persons, were largely employed as service and sales workers (14.0 per cent), clerical support workers (10.7 per cent) and craft and related trades workers (4.9 per cent), while about 1.6 per cent or 781,000 persons were employed in the low-skilled category.

Mohd Uzir said the unemployment rate of graduates eased by 0.4 percentage points to a record 3.7 per cent in 2022 compared to 4.1 in 2021, while the number of unemployed graduates decreased by 5.5 per cent in 2022 to a record 187,800 persons compared to 198,700 persons in 2021.

"In 2022, Malaysia’s economy had gradually regained momentum towards recovery and fostered a healthier labour market situation during the year compared to 2021,” he said. — Bernama