PUTRAJAYA, Dec 1 — The Malaysian Well-being Index (MyWI) in 2022 has increased 2.5 per cent to 121.2 points as compared to 118.3 points in 2021, thanks to positive growth of economic and social well-being, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said Malaysia’s transition into the endemic phase starting April 2022 with the reopening of the economy in stages, had a positive impact on both sub-composites.

"The economic well-being sub-composite recorded an increase of 3.6 per cent in 2022 to 130.0 points as compared to 125.5 points in 2021 and the social well-being sub-composite increased by 1.8 per cent to 116.4 points as compared to 114.3 in the same period.

"Malaysian well-being in 2022 represents the endemic and recovering phases of Covid-19,” he said in a statement today.

He said the positive growth in the MyWI was contributed by the increase of 11 out of 14 economic and social components in 2022.

Mohd Uzir said the three highest components that contributed to the increase in MyWI were entertainment and recreation (20.8 per cent), transportation (8.0 per cent) and culture (6.5 per cent), while the three components of MyWI showing a decline were public safety, governance, and social participation.

"Public Safety Index decreased by 9.4 per cent to 126.1 points in 2022 as compared to 139.2 points in 2021. The decline is attributed to the increase in the number of road accidents in tandem with the reopening of borders, as well as economic activities.

"This was followed by 2.3 per cent decrease in the governance component to 120.8 points in 2022 as compared to 123.7 points in 2021 mainly due to the decrease in the percentage of corruption cases prosecuted, the percentage of e-filing users and the percentage of cases solved by Public Complaints Bureau.

"The social participation component also recorded a decrease of 0.08 per cent to 130.2 points in 2022 as compared to 130.3 points in 2021 following the decline in membership of RELA and the number of registered non-profit organisations,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mohd Uzir said the State Well-being Index (SWI) performance for all states recorded an increase in the index points in 2022.

Three states that recorded the highest increase in index points were Perlis with 2.9 index points to 115.2 points in 2022 as compared to 112.3 points in 2021, followed by Sarawak 2.8 index points to 119.5 points in 2022 as compared to 116.7 points in 2021 and Perak 2.4 index points to 118.5 points as compared to 116.1 points in the same period. — Bernama