PETALING JAYA: A total of 1,567 cases of sexual crime involving child victims were recorded last year, a 26% increase from 2022, says the Statistics Department (DOSM).
“The number of sexual offences involving children reported to the Royal Malaysia Police increased by 26.5% in 2023, totalling 1,567 cases, compared with 1,239 cases in the previous year,” the nation’s chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in a statement yesterday.
He added that physical sexual assault on children had also recorded a significant increase last year of 21.1%, with a total of 1,389 cases compared to 1,147 cases in 2022.
Mohd Uzir also noted that 91 cases of non-physical sexual assault on a child and 67 child pornography offences were recorded last year.
There were also 16 cases involving sexually communicating with children and four child grooming cases, he added.
These statistics were part of DOSM’s overall report on the national population of children and included metrics on their health, education and protection.
These statistics are among the indicators used in measuring children’s quality of life and well- being in accordance with the concepts and guidelines recommended by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), Mohd Uzir said.
The number of children in need of care and protection had also increased last year by 26.1% to 8,536 children compared to 6,770 children in 2022, according to the Social Welfare Department’s records.
“There were more girls in need of care and protection, totalling 5,418 girls compared to 3,118 boys.
“However, boys in need of care and protection recorded a higher increase of 26.4% compared to girls with a 25.9% increase for the same period,” Mohd Uzir added.
Meanwhile, based on population estimates for 2024, he said Malaysia has more young boys than girls.
“The number of boys and girls aged under 18 totals 4.72 million and 4.42 million respectively.
“Meanwhile, the number of children aged under five in 2024 is 2.36 million, or 6.9% of the total number of children in Malaysia.
“The number of boys and girls aged under five is 1.22 million and 1.14 million respectively,” he added.
He said the figures were derived from population estimates for 2024, which put the number of children under 18 at 9.14 million or 26.9% of Malaysia’s total population of about 34.06 million.
He added that Putrajaya recorded the highest percentage of under 18s, making up 40.5% of the total population of 120,000 in Putrajaya.
This was followed by Kelantan (34.0%) and Terengganu (33.2%), while Kuala Lumpur recorded the lowest number at 21.6%.
“However, Selangor recorded the highest number of under 18s at 1.83 million, followed by Sabah (1.12 million) and Johor (1.11 million),” he said.
On education, Mohd Uzir said the number of students in government and government-aided schools in 2023 increased by 4.6% to 5,192,600 students from 4,962,900 students in 2022.
“Meanwhile, the number of students in private schools rose last year by 3.6% to 442,900 students compared to 427,600 students in 2022,” he added.
In 2023, there were 455,800 live births compared to 423,100 in 2022.
In terms of immunisation, Mohd Uzir said the coverage of infants improved last year.
He said hepatitis B recorded the highest increase, rising by 10.6% to 107.7% last year compared to 97.1% in 2022.
This was followed by polio, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP), and haemophilus influenzae type B (HIB), with an increase of 10.5% to 107.7% respectively, compared to 97.2% in 2022.
Meanwhile, BCG recorded the lowest increase from 97.7% in 2022 to 98.7% last year.
DOSM also said there were 171,762 children registered with disabilities.
