Nearly 94% of Malaysians who renounced citizenship chose Singapore, data shows
More than 61,000 Malaysians gave up their citizenship over the last five years, with officials citing jobs and family ties as key reasons
In the past five years, 61,116 Malaysians gave up their citizenship, Malaysia’s National Registration Department director general Badrul Hisham Alias said, as reported by the New Straits Times newspaper.
Of those, nearly all – 57,314 individuals or close to 94 per cent – picked Singapore as their new home. Australia was a distant second at 2.15 per cent and Brunei third at 0.97 per cent.
About 10,000 Malaysians renounced their citizenship a year on average.
There were more women than men giving up their citizenship, with 35,356 doing so over the five-year period cited by Badrul, which ran up to December 17 last year.
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Those aged below 40 were the most likely to renounce their citizenship. The largest group was those aged between 31 and 40 at 31.6 per cent, followed by those aged between 21 and 30 at 30.8 per cent.