ISKANDAR PUTERI, July 26 — The economy of Johor is back on track to recovery and the state’s economy is expected to continue to grow as a result of the re-opening of the Malaysia-Singapore border, which will boost the country’s recovery efforts, chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said.

He said in 2021, Johor’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 2.4 per cent to RM131.1 billion compared with a negative growth of 4.7 per cent to RM128 billion in 2020.

"Moving forward, business activities can continue and at the same time, open up job opportunities for the people in this state, further improving the well-being of the people,” he said in a statement today.

He said Johor’s economic structure continued to be dominated by two main sectors namely services and manufacturing with a contribution of 83 per cent while the state’s exports increased by 20.6 per cent with an export value of RM255.1 million.

"Johor’s main export goods are refined petroleum products (21.9 per cent), integrated electronic circuits (13.6 per cent) and other electrical and electronic products (7.2 per cent),” he said.

Meanwhile, he said based on the 2020 Malaysian Census, Johor recorded a population of 4.01 million people with a population growth rate of 2.2 per cent for the period from 2010 to 2020.

Mohd Uzir, who is also the Census 2020 commissioner, said Johor recorded more males than females with a gender ratio of 115 males for every 100 females while the labour force among male graduates stood at 229,700 graduates compared with 187,600 female graduates.

He said the total composition of the young generation or youth aged 15 to 40 years is almost half of the total population of Johor which is 45.1 per cent.

"The majority of these young people are in Johor Bahru district which is 41 per cent followed by Batu Pahat district with 12.7 per cent.

"The graduate labour force participation rate increased to 85.3 per cent in 2020 compared with 84.2 per cent the previous year,” he said.

He said the composition of the elderly population aged 65 years and over in Johor is at 6.1 per cent, which is lower than the national rate of 6.8 per cent.

He added that the birth rate for Johor is 15.1 per thousand population while the death rate is 5.5 per thousand population in 2020.

Earlier, Mohd Uzir presented the results of the 2020 Malaysian Census and the Johor 2021 economic performance to approximately 150 people consisting of members of parliament, state assembly members, district officers, local authority chairpersons and federal and state government agencies at the Sultan Ismail Building in Kota Iskandar here. — Bernama