PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia recorded its lowest number of live births since 1980 with only 414,918 births in 2024, representing a nine per cent decrease from the 455,761 births recorded in 2023.
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin revealed that male babies outnumbered females with 213,919 male births compared to 200,999 female births.
The declining birth numbers contributed to a reduction in the crude birth rate from 13.6 births per 1,000 population in 2023 to just 12.2 births per 1,000 population in 2024.
Mohd Uzir also noted that the sex ratio at birth decreased from 107.4 males per 100 females in 2023 to 106.4 males per 100 females in 2024.
Malay births constituted 65.7 per cent of total live births in 2024 with 272,718 births, down from 67 per cent or 305,494 births in the previous year.
Chinese births saw a slight increase from 9.8 per cent to 10.8 per cent, though the actual number rose minimally from 44,818 to 44,914.
Indian births declined from 4.4 per cent to 4.3 per cent, with the actual number dropping from 20,064 to 17,914.
Every state in Malaysia recorded a decrease in crude birth rate compared to 2023, with Terengganu posting the highest rate at 19.3 births per 1,000 population.
Penang recorded the lowest crude birth rate among all states at just 10.1 births per 1,000 population.
The total fertility rate fell from 1.7 children per woman in 2023 to 1.6 children per woman in 2024.
Malaysia’s fertility rate has remained below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman since 2013, after staying above this threshold between 1970 and 2012.
Meanwhile, Malaysia recorded 198,992 deaths in 2024, marking a one per cent increase from the 196,965 deaths recorded in 2023.
The crude death rate edged down slightly from 5.9 to 5.8 deaths per 1,000 population despite the increase in total deaths.
Male deaths numbered 113,866 while female deaths totalled 85,126 during the year.
The 70-74 age group recorded the highest number of deaths at 24,513, representing 12.3 per cent of all fatalities.
The 5-9 age group recorded the lowest number of deaths at just 412, accounting for only 0.2 per cent of total mortality. – Bernama
