\n<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE \u2013 More than 57,000 Malaysians renounced their citizenship to become citizens of Singapore from 2020 to 2025, said a Malaysian official. <\/p>\n
The figures were released in a Jan 7 report by Malaysian daily Harian Metro, citing National Registration Department director-general Badrul Hisham Alias.<\/p>\n
A total of 61,116 Malaysians applied to move and become citizens of another country in the five-year period ended Dec 17, 2025, he said.<\/p>\n
Of these, 93.78 per cent, or about 57,315 applicants, were bound for Singapore, with 2.15 per cent headed to Australia, 0.97 per cent to Brunei and 3.1 per cent to other countries.<\/p>\n
The largest group who applied to renounce their citizenship were those aged 31 to 40, at 19,287 applicants or 31.6 per cent.<\/p>\n
There were 18,827 applicants aged 21 to 30, or 30.8 per cent; followed by those aged 41 to 50, at 14,126 applicants or 23.1 per cent; and those over 50, with 8,876 applicants or 14.5 per cent.<\/p>\n
More than half of those renouncing their Malaysian citizenship were women, with 35,356 such applicants.<\/p>\n
On average, 10,000 people apply to renounce their Malaysian citizenship a year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe factors that cause them to abandon their citizenship are known to be either economic- or family-based,\u201d Mr Badrul Hisham told Harian Metro.<\/p>\n
He cited examples of those working in Singapore being able to obtain citizenship due to employment- and income-related factors, while those who marry foreigners may choose to give up their Malaysian citizenship to migrate to their spouse\u2019s country.<\/p>\n
Other factors may also include people giving up their citizenship to exercise privileges of a foreign country \u2013 such as voting \u2013 as Malaysia does not recognise dual citizenship in its Constitution.<\/p>\n
An earlier report from The Star, citing Malaysia\u2019s Home Ministry, said that a total of 97,318 Malaysians renounced their citizenship to become citizens of Singapore between 2015 and June 2025.<\/p>\n
According to Singapore\u2019s <\/p>\n Population in Brief report released in September 2025<\/p>\n <\/a>, almost two in three new citizens in 2024, or 64.3 per cent, came from South-east Asia. Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in March 2025 that every year, Singapore has about 30,000 citizen babies born and <\/p>\n takes in about 22,000 new citizens<\/p>\n <\/a>. <\/p>\n In Singapore, every new citizen goes through the\u00a0<\/p>\n Singapore Citizenship Journey programme<\/p>\n <\/a> on what it means to be Singaporean before getting citizenship.\u00a0<\/p>\n Integration and Naturalisation Champions<\/p>\n <\/a>\u00a0from the People\u2019s Association also run many programmes to welcome and integrate new citizens into their communities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n