PUTRAJAYA: The number of live births rose by 7.7% to 455,761 births in 2023 compared to 423,124 in 2022, according to the Vital Statistics, Malaysia 2024 report released Thursday.
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said more male babies were born than female, with 235,981 and 219,780, respectively.
"The increase in the number of live births has contributed to the incline in crude birth rate (CBR) from 12.9 births in 2022 to 13.6 births per 1,000 population in 2023,” he said in a statement.
He added that all states recorded an increase in CBR last year except the Federal Territory (FT) of Putrajaya, where the rate declined from 15.7 births in 2022 to 14.4 births per 1,000 population in 2023.
"Terengganu recorded the highest CBR with 21.6 births, while FT Kuala Lumpur recorded the lowest CBR with 10.7 births per 1,000 population.
"Seven states recorded CBR higher than the national level (13.6), namely Terengganu, Kelantan (19.2), Kedah (15.4), Pahang (14.7), FT Putrajaya (14.4), FT Labuan (14.2) and Johor (13.7),” he said.
Mohd Uzir said Malays accounted for 67% (305,494 births) of total live births in 2023, while the proportion of Chinese and Indian births increased from 9.5% and 4.1% in 2022 to 9.8% and 4.4%, respectively, last year.
He also said that the total fertility rate (TFR) rose from 1.6 children per woman in 2022 to 1.7 in 2023.
"From 1970 to 2012, the national TFR remained above the replacement level of 2.1 children. However, it started to decline below the replacement level in 2013.
"The replacement level of 2.1 children indicates that the average number of children born per woman throughout her reproductive life has been sufficient to replace herself and her partner,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mohd Uzir said there were 196,965 deaths recorded last year, a decrease of 4.7% compared to 206,780 in 2022 after the Covid-19 pandemic.
The crude death rate also declined, from 6.3 deaths per 1,000 population in 2022 to 5.9 in 2023.
The number of male deaths in 2023 was 112,293 or 57% of the total deaths, while female deaths were 84,672 deaths (43%).
The age group 70-74 years recorded the highest number of deaths in 2023 with 24,516 deaths (12.4%), while the lowest number was in the age group 5-9 years, with 474 deaths (0.2%). - Bernama
