Malaysia has 9.03 million children under 18, with declining immunisation rates and rising numbers needing care and protection, according to DOSM data.
PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia is home to 9.03 million children under 18, representing 26.4% of the total 34.23 million population according to the Department of Statistics’ Children Statistics 2025.
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said 4.66 million are boys and 4.37 million are girls, with children under five totalling 2.31 million.
Putrajaya recorded the highest percentage of children under 18 at 39.9%, followed by Kelantan at 33.5% and Terengganu at 32.9%.
Selangor recorded the highest number of children at 1.81 million, while Labuan recorded the lowest at 30,000.
Infant immunisation coverage declined across all five major immunisations in 2024.
Coverage for polio, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae type b and Hepatitis B each fell by 6.1 percentage points.
Bacillus Calmette–Guérin coverage declined by 0.3 percentage points.
Registered Child Care Centres increased by 1.4% to 3,198 in 2024.
Johor recorded the highest growth at 29.4%, while Putrajaya experienced the largest decrease at 21.0%.
Government and government-aided school enrolment declined by 0.2%, with a 3.0% drop at the upper secondary level.
Private school enrolment decreased by 0.3%, primarily due to a 3.4% decline in kindergarten enrolment.
Children in need of care and protection rose by 12.7% to 9,624 cases in 2024.
Girls accounted for 6,031 cases, while boys saw a sharper increase of 15.2% compared to 11.3% among girls.
Children involved in crime decreased by 4.2% to 2,627 cases.
Bumiputera children made up the majority at 82.2%, followed by Chinese at 9.0%, Indians at 4.9% and others at 4.1%. – Bernama
