The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM; Malay: ''Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia'') is a government agency in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

that operates under the

Ministry of Economy A Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Economic Affairs, or Department of Commerce is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the economy or economic policy. List Examples of such mi ...

. It is responsible for the collection and interpretation of reliable statistics related to the economy, population, society and environment of Malaysia which the government primarily uses to assess, review and implement national public policies. DOSM data are publicly accessible on th
OpenDOSM
website.

Responsibilities and activities

MyCensus

The department conducts the Population and housing census of Malaysia (MyCensus) every 10 years. As of the most recent census in 2020, DOSM had implemented 5 censuses since the establishment of Malaysia.

Economic statistics

The department supplies a wide variety of financial information. Through its various divisions, the department is responsible for the production and compilation of national accounts such as quarterly and annual

gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performanc ...

(GDP), national income, consumption, savings,

balance of payments In international economics, the balance of payments (also known as balance of international payments and abbreviated BOP or BoP) of a country is the difference between all money flowing into the country in a particular period of time (e.g., a ...

(BOP). Other economic statistics such as services statistics, the balance of payments, economic indicators, international trade statistics, industrial production and construction statistics as also frequently compiled by the department.

History

Establishment

The DOSM was established in 1949 under the Statistics Ordinance 1949. It was then known as the Bureau of Statistics and mainly produced statistics related to external trade and estate agriculture In 1965, the Bureau of Statistics was renamed to its current name as provisioned by the Statistics Act 1965. The department's function and role had also been expanded to include data on the economy and society. Under the act, the Sabah and Sarawak statistics office became a branch of the DOSM. The establishment of

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

offices in

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the list of isla ...

was done in stages from 1971 to 1982.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Prime Minister's Department (Malaysia) 1949 establishments in Malaya Federal ministries, departments and agencies of Malaysia