 Until the late 20th century, the town's residents depended on rice farming and fishing as the main economic activities.In the 1990s, the development of Teluk Kumbar was spearheaded by the Penang Regional Development Authority (PERDA), an agency of the Malaysian federal government which was tasked with the development of rural areas within Penang.According to the 2010 National Census conducted by Malaysia's Department of Statistics, Teluk Kumbar contained a population of 1,084.