Only 93,500 births were recorded nationwide from January to March this year, down from 105,613 births in 1Q24
by GLORIA HARRY BEATTY
MALAYSIA recorded its lowest ever number of live births in the first quarter of 2025 (1Q25), as new demographic data revealed a sharp 11.5% decline compared to the same period last year.
According to the 1Q25 report released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), only 93,500 births were recorded nationwide from January to March this year, down from 105,613 births in 1Q24.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the gender ratio at birth remained consistent, with 106 male births for every 100 females. Of the total, 48,124 were male and 45,376 were female.
Selangor reported the highest number of live births at 18,254 or 19.5% of the total, while Labuan recorded the lowest with only 278 births.
Mothers aged between 30 and 39 accounted for the majority of births at 53.3%, followed by those aged 20 to 29 (39.3%), 40 years and over (6%) and less than 20 years (1.4%). There were three births by mothers aged 55 years and over.
“On average, one baby was born per minute, 43 babies per hour and 1,039 babies per day in 1Q25,” Mohd Uzir said in a statement.
Falling Birth Rates Across Ethnic Groups
Malay births made up the majority at 68.8%, a slight increase from 67.5% in 1Q25. Births among the “Other Bumiputera” group rose to 12.6% from 12.3% in the same quarter last year.
Meanwhile, Chinese and Indian births continued to decline, comprising 8.6% and 3.8% of total births, from 9.6% and 4.2% in the corresponding quarter last year respectively.
Among the Other Bumiputera ethnicity, Sabah’s communities, particularly the Kadazan/Dusun (34.5%) and Bajau (30.4%) formed the largest shares, followed by other Sabah Bumiputera (27.8%) and Murut (7.3%).
Slight Decline in Deaths
Meanwhile, the number of deaths fell by 2% to 48,130 in 1Q25 from 49,117 in the same quarter last year. The majority of deaths occurred among those aged 60 and above, accounting for over 71% of total deaths, followed by 41-59 years (19.6%), 15-40 years (6.8%), 90 years and over (5.5%) and zero- 14 years (1.9%).
Males continued to record higher mortality, with 27,533 deaths compared to 20,597 female deaths — a gender ratio of 134 male deaths for every 100 females.
Mohd Uzir stated that on average, one death was recorded in two minutes, 22 deaths per hour and 535 deaths per day in 1Q25.
Selangor once again topped the states in terms of total deaths at 7,710 (16%), while Putrajaya saw the lowest with 84 deaths.
Among ethnicities, Malay deaths comprised 51.7% from 51.3%, followed by Chinese (26.8%), Indians (8.4%) and Other Bumiputera (10.7%), compared to 26.9%, 8.6% and 10.5% registered in 1Q24, respectively.
Bumiputera Sabah accounted for 51.5% of the Other Bumiputera category, comprising Kadazan/ Dusun (38.4%), Bajau (26.2%), Murut (6.7%) and other Sabah Bumiputera groups (28.7%).
Meanwhile, Bumiputera Sarawak recorded 42.2%. It comprised Iban (61.5%), Bidayuh (16.5%), Melanau (11.9%) and other Sarawak Bumiputera (10.1%).
Population Growth Slows to 0.9%
Malaysia’s total population was estimated at 34.2 million in 1Q25, up from 33.9 million a year ago, but marked a significantly slower growth rate of 0.9%, down from 2.0% in 1Q24.
The population comprised 30.8 million (90.1%) citizens and 3.4 million non-citizens (9.9%).
The male population increased to 17.9 million from 17.8 million in 1Q24 and females rose to 16.2 million from 16.1 million in the same period. Males outnumbered females with a gender ratio of 111 males to 100 females.
The overall gender ratio of the population was 111 males per 100 females, while gender ratio for Malaysian citizens was 103 males per 100 females.
The proportion of the elderly (aged 65 and above) in the population continued to rise to 7.6% from 7.7%, while the share of the young (aged zero-14) declined slightly to 22.2% from 22.3%. The working-age group (15-64) remained unchanged at 70.1%.
In terms of ethnicity, the Malays accounted for 58.1% of the population in 1Q25 compared to 58.0% recorded in 1Q24. Indians decreased to 6.5% from 6.6%, while Other Bumiputera and Chinese remained unchanged at 12.3% and 22.4% in the same period, respectively.
Mohd Uzir said the country’s total fertility rate (TFR) has been on a long-term decline, in line with global trends — with more countries reporting TFRs below replacement level, which is 2.1 children per woman between the ages of 15-49 years.
Global Comparisons
The falling birth rate raises concerns about population ageing, population decline, and workforce and future workforce shortages, trends that have already impacted countries such as South Korea, Japan, Singapore, China, Russia and Thailand.
In response, Mohd Uzir pointed out that several nations have introduced various policies related to population, fertility and family support to encourage higher birth rates.
He cited South Korea’s extended maternity leave of up to three months, paid childcare leave for a year, as well as various financial incentives and tax deductions.
“These measures have begun to show positive effects in efforts to boost the country’s birth rate,” he said, adding that Thailand also increased tax exemptions for families with two or more children.
- This article first appeared in The Malaysian Reserve weekly print edition
The post Live births drop to all-time low in 1Q25 appeared first on The Malaysian Reserve.
