PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia has achieved an 81 per cent availability of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators for 2023, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) reported.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said that out of the 248 global SDG indicators, Malaysia’s achievement was 196 indicators available, 28 indicators partially available and need development, 17 indicators not available and seven indicators not relevant.
“Thus, based on 241 relevant SDG indicators for Malaysia, the country has reached 81 per cent availability of SDG indicators in 2023,” he said in a statement today.
From the people focus area, the indicator under ‘Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being’, namely maternal mortality ratio (MMR), he said the MMR improved to 25.7 per 100,000 live births from 26.0 in 2022.
“The lowest MMR in 2023 was recorded in Terengganu (11.5 per 100,000 live births) and no MMR cases were recorded in Perlis and Labuan,” Mohd Uzir said.
In the focus area of prosperity, the indicator under ‘Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth’ shows that the unemployment rate improved to 3.4 per cent in 2023 compared to 3.9 per cent in 2022. The unemployment rate is expected to decline further in line with the current economic development of the country.
“Eleven states recorded unemployment rates below the national level with three states recording the lowest unemployment rates, namely Putrajaya (0.8 per cent), Melaka (1.6 per cent) and Pahang (2.0 per cent),” he said.
Moving on to partnership, the indicator under ‘Goal 17: Partnership for the Goals’ shows a slight increase in the percentage of individuals using the internet in Malaysia to 97.7 per cent in 2023 compared to 97.4 per cent in 2022.
Seven states in Malaysia have reported internet usage rates higher than the national average, with Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur leading the way with 99.9 per cent of individuals using the Internet, followed by Penang at 99 per cent and Selangor at 98.8 per cent.
Other states surpassing the national rate include Johor (98.6 per cent), Negeri Sembilan (98.4 per cent) and Melaka (98.0 per cent).
Mohd Uzir said that in line with the efforts to improve the availability of sustainability measurement indicators, ministries and agencies continue to play a crucial role in measuring the achievement of these indicators, contributing 77 per cent of the total SDG indicators for 2023.
Collaboration with ministries and agencies, as well as civil society organisations (CSOs), will continue to be strengthened to close the data availability gaps while increasing the availability of granular data, especially for the four goals with indicator availability below 70 per cent.
