THE Malaysian Wellbeing Index (MyWI) last year went up by 2.5% to 121.2 points against 118.3 points in 2021, thanks to positive growth of economic and social wellbeing, the Statistics Department said.

Chief statistician Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said Malaysia’s transition into the endemic phase from April last year with the reopening of the economy in stages, had a positive impact on both sub-composites.

“The economic wellbeing sub-composite recorded an increase of 3.6% in 2022 to 130.0 points against 125.5 points in 2021 and the social wellbeing sub-composite increased by 1.8% to 116.4 points compared with 114.3 in the same period.

“Malaysian wellbeing in 2022 represents the endemic and recovering phases of Covid-19,” he said in a statement today.

He said the increase of 11 out of 14 economic and social components last year contributed to the positive growth in the MyWI.

Uzir said the three highest components that contributed to the increase in MyWI were entertainment and recreation (20.8%), transport (8.0%) and culture (6.5%), while the three components of MyWI showing a decline were public safety, governance, and social participation.

“Public Safety Index decreased by 9.4% to 126.1 points in 2022 against 139.2 points in 2021. The decline is attributed to the increase in the number of road crashes in tandem with the reopening of borders, as well as economic activities.

“This was followed by a 2.3% decrease in the governance component to 120.8 points in 2022 compared with 123.7 points in 2021 mainly due to the decrease in the percentage of corruption cases prosecuted, the percentage of e-filing users and the percentage of cases solved by Public Complaints Bureau.

“The social participation component also recorded a decrease of 0.08% to 130.2 points last year against 130.3 points in 2021 following the decline in membership of Rela and the number of registered non-profit organisations,” he said.

Meanwhile, Uzir said the State Wellbeing Index performance for all states recorded an increase in the index points last year.

Three states that recorded the highest increase in index points were Perlis with 2.9 index points to 115.2 points in 2022 against 112.3 points in 2021, followed by Sarawak (2.8 index points to 119.5 points in 2022 against 116.7 points in 2021) and Perak (2.4 index points to 118.5 points against 116.1 points in the same period). – Bernama, December 1, 2023.