PUTRAJAYA: Despite a continued national decline in birth rates, Malays and Bumiputeras have seen an increase in the number of live births in this country.
According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), the national birth rate fell by 10.2 per cent to 100,732 in the second quarter of 2024, down from 112,197 births in the same period the previous year.
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin reported that male births outnumbered female births, with 51,759 males and 48,973 females, yielding a gender ratio of 106 males for every 100 females. On average, one baby was born every minute, 47 babies every hour, and 1,119 babies daily during the second quarter of 2024.
The highest number of live births was among mothers aged 30 to 39 years, who accounted for 51,740 births or 51.4 per cent. This was followed by mothers aged 20 to 29 years at 41.5 per cent, those aged 40 and above at 5.4 per cent, and mothers under 20 years at 1.8 per cent.
Selangor reported the highest number of live births with 19,320, while Labuan had the lowest with 324.
Malays constituted 67.4 per cent of the total live births, or 67,859, in the second quarter of 2024, up slightly from 67.1 per cent the previous year.
In contrast, the proportion of live births among Chinese and Indians decreased to 9.7 per cent and 3.7 per cent, respectively, from 9.9 per cent and 4.4 per cent in the same period last year. The proportion of live births among other Bumiputera groups increased to 12.9 per cent from 12.5 per cent.
Additionally, there were 48,460 deaths recorded in the second quarter of 2024, a 5.4 per cent decrease from 51,234 deaths in the same period last year.
Selangor had the highest number of deaths at 7,459, while Putrajaya recorded the lowest at 65.
On average, one death occurred every two minutes, 22 deaths every hour, and 538 deaths per day.
Malaysia's total population increased by 1.9 per cent to 34.1 million in the second quarter of 2024, compared to 33.4 million the previous year. This total includes 30.7 million citizens and 3.4 million non-citizens. The working-age population (15-64 years old) rose from 23.3 million to 23.9 million, while the elderly population (65 and over) increased from 2.5 million to 2.6 million.– BERNAMA