Sabah population

Estimated residents of Sabah in 2026, by sex, age group and ethnicity.

Total Population3,766,800
Male1,962,900
Female1,804,400
Districts28

View Sabah property prices

Browse all districts in Sabah

Population by district in Sabah

Sabah population by sex

Sabah population by sex
SexPopulationShareShare chart
Male 1,962,900 52.1%
Female 1,804,400 47.9%

Sabah population by age group

Sabah population by age group
Age groupPopulationShareShare chart
Children (0–14) 860,900 22.9%
Working age (15–64) 2,661,500 70.7%
Seniors (65+) 244,600 6.5%

Sabah population by five-year age group

Sabah population by five-year age group
Age groupPopulationShareShare chart
0–4 years 248,800 6.6%
5–9 years 304,200 8.1%
10–14 years 307,900 8.2%
15–19 years 382,300 10.1%
20–24 years 403,400 10.7%
25–29 years 400,500 10.6%
30–34 years 341,000 9.1%
35–39 years 304,700 8.1%
40–44 years 269,500 7.2%
45–49 years 191,300 5.1%
50–54 years 148,100 3.9%
55–59 years 121,000 3.2%
60–64 years 99,700 2.6%
65–69 years 96,700 2.6%
70–74 years 72,000 1.9%
75–79 years 37,900 1.0%
80–84 years 20,600 0.5%
85+ years 17,400 0.5%

Sabah population by ethnicity

Sabah population by ethnicity
EthnicityPopulationShareShare chart
Bumiputera (Malay) 335,200 8.9%
Bumiputera (Other) 2,108,800 56.0%
Chinese 240,400 6.4%
Indian 5,700 0.2%
Other citizens 47,000 1.2%
Non-citizens 1,030,100 27.3%

Ethnic groups follow DOSM categories. Non-citizens are shown as a single group regardless of ethnicity.

Population by district in Sabah

28 districts
Districts in Sabah ranked by estimated population
DistrictPopulationShareProperty prices
Kota Kinabalu 556,100 14.8% Kota Kinabalu report
Sandakan 508,300 13.5% Sandakan report
Tawau 418,100 11.1% Tawau report
Lahad Datu 251,100 6.7% Lahad Datu report
Semporna 202,700 5.4% Semporna report
Penampang 165,500 4.4% Penampang report
Kinabatangan 164,400 4.4% Kinabatangan report
Keningau 157,400 4.2% Keningau report
Tuaran 143,400 3.8% Tuaran report
Papar 122,500 3.3% Papar report
Kota Belud 112,000 3.0% Kota Belud report
Kudat 94,200 2.5% Kudat report
Beluran 90,900 2.4% Labuk Sugut report
Ranau 89,600 2.4% Ranau report
Kunak 76,700 2.0% Kunak report
Kota Marudu 75,500 2.0% Kota Marudu report
Putatan 71,000 1.9% Putatan report
Kalabakan 59,300 1.6% Not available
Beaufort 56,600 1.5% Beaufort report
Tenom 54,700 1.5% Tenom report
Membakut 53,800 1.4% Not available
Tongod 42,500 1.1% Not available
Sipitang 41,000 1.1% Sipitang report
Pitas 39,200 1.0% Pitas report
Tambunan 34,000 0.9% Tambunan report
Nabawan 31,400 0.8% Pensiangan report
Telupid 29,900 0.8% Not available
Kuala Penyu 25,000 0.7% Kuala Penyu report

Property reports use the district names in recorded transactions. Sarawak property records are grouped by division, so several districts may share one property report.

Other states

Johor4,224,300 residents Kedah2,237,400 residents Kelantan1,925,300 residents Melaka1,057,400 residents Negeri Sembilan1,248,500 residents Pahang1,686,400 residents Perak2,578,100 residents Perlis297,300 residents Pulau Pinang1,808,300 residents Sarawak2,539,800 residents Selangor7,454,300 residents Terengganu1,260,900 residents Kuala Lumpur2,082,300 residents Labuan101,100 residents Putrajaya121,400 residents

About these figures

Population figures are Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) estimates for 2026, published in thousands to one decimal place and shown here to the nearest hundred residents. State totals add up their district estimates. Sex, age and ethnicity breakdowns are published separately and may differ slightly from the total because of rounding.

Source: Population Table: Administrative District, Department of Statistics Malaysia (opens in a new tab), dated , licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) (opens in a new tab). iniPrice has aggregated and reformatted this data; DOSM does not endorse this site. See the Disclaimer for details of our changes.