The number of graduates in Malaysia in 2020 was 5.36 million persons, increased by 4.4% from 2019 (5.13 million persons), according to data from Statistics Malaysia.

Meanwhile, the graduate unemployment rate spiked to 4.4%.

The number of graduates in the labour force including employed and unemployed, rose by 6.3% to a record 4.56 million persons (2019: 4.29 million persons).

Meanwhile, the graduates’ labour force participation rate went up by 1.5% to 85.0% as compared to 83.5% in 2019.

The number of employed graduates was 4.35 million persons, increased by 5.6% from 4.12 million persons in 2019.

During the same period, the number of graduates outside the labour force dropped by 5.1%.

Statistics Malaysia published labour market data earlier this month which showed that Malaysia’s unemployment rate in May stood at 4.5%, down 0.8% year-on-year.