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DOSM's Business Demography Malaysia 2024 shows active enterprises hit a record 734,089, with new business "births" climbing to 55,376. The services sector led both in size and growth.
Malaysia recorded a rise in new business activity in 2024, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM). The latest Business Demography Malaysia, 2024 report, published on Tuesday (28 October 2025), analyses the life cycle of enterprises, covering births, deaths, survival rates, and overall business activity. The statistics focus on business entities registered with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) under the Registration of Companies (ROC).
Dato’ Sri Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin, Chief Statistician Malaysia, said the number of active enterprises reached a record 734,089 in 2024. The services sector dominated, accounting for 583,270 enterprises or 79.5% of the total.
The number of new enterprises, or "births" as they were referred to, rose to 55,376, boosting the national birth rate to 7.5% from 7.3% in 2023. The services sector recorded the highest birth rate at 7.8%, followed by the construction and mining & quarrying sectors, each at 6.8%. Within services, the food & beverages (13.8%), arts, entertainment & recreation (12.6%), and information & communication (11.5%) sub-sectors recorded the highest enterprise birth rates.
Meanwhile, enterprise "deaths" declined to 28,924 in 2024 from 33,077 the previous year, lowering the national death rate to 3.9% from 4.7% in 2023. The mining & quarrying sector saw the highest death rate at 5.1%, with mineral mining & quarrying at 5.2% and petroleum & natural gas at 4.6%. The services sector followed at 4%, and agriculture at 3.9%.
The report also highlighted enterprise survival rates. Enterprises born in 2019 and still operating in 2024 achieved a five-year survival rate of 69.9%, an increase from 66.5% for the 2018–2023 cohort and 66.1% for 2017–2022. The construction sector recorded the highest survival rate at 72.8%, followed by manufacturing at 70.3% and services at 69.8%. Leading sub-sectors included residential buildings in construction (76.8%) and transport equipment, other manufacturing & repair in manufacturing (73.2%). Eight sub-sectors exceeded the overall services sector survival rate, with private health & social work topping at 79.2%.
State-level data showed enterprise birth rates above the national average in Putrajaya (9.7%), Johor (9.2%), Kuala Lumpur (7.8%), and Selangor (7.7%). Perlis had the highest enterprise death rate at 4.7%, followed by Kelantan (4.6%) and W.P. Putrajaya (4.5%).
Meanwhile, the highest five-year survival rates were recorded in Labuan (77.8%), Sarawak (77.3%), and Perak (76.2%), with eleven states exceeding the national average of 69.9%.
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Infographics / DOSM
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