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Economic factors, family main reasons 61,116 Malaysians gave up citizenship
By Muhaamad Hafis Nawawi, Mohd Haris Fadli Mohd Fadzil
January 7, 2026 @ 10:35pm
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PUTRAJAYA: Economic factors and family considerations were the primary factors behind 61,116 Malaysians relinquishing their citizenship over the past five years.
National Registration Department director-general Datuk Badrul Hisham Alias said women accounted for the highest number of those who gave up their citizenships, with 35,356 doing so in the five-year period up to Dec 17 last year.
On average, about 10,000 Malaysians renounce their citizenship each year.
He said Singapore was the preferred destination for the vast majority of applicants, accounting for 93.78 per cent of cases, followed by Australia (2.15 per cent) and Brunei (0.97 per cent).
Other countries made up 3.1 per cent of those renouncing their citizenship.
"The decision to relinquish Malaysian citizenship is largely driven by economic and family factors. In the case of Singapore, many Malaysians are employed there, and employment prospects and income levels make it easier for them to obtain citizenship," he told Harian Metro.
Badrul said family reasons featured prominently particularly among Malaysians who married foreigners and subsequently migrated overseas before opting to take up their spouse's nationality.
He added that there were also cases involving the revocation of citizenship, although these were significantly fewer compared with voluntary relinquishment.
This could occur when Malaysians acquire foreign citizenship and exercise the privileges of that nationality, such as voting, as Malaysia does not recognise dual citizenship under the Federal Constitution.
"When a Malaysian citizen exercises the rights of a foreign country, such as voting in its elections, they are deemed to have acquired that country's citizenship, and their Malaysian citizenship must be revoked," he said.
Badrul said the largest group applying to renounce their citizenship were those aged between 31 and 40, totalling 19,287 people (31.6 per cent), followed by those aged 21 to 30 with 18,827 applicants (30.8 per cent), those aged 41 to 50 with 14,126 applicants (23.1 per cent), and those aged above 50 with 8,876 applicants (14.5 per cent).
