Ischaemic heart were the principal causes of death in 2022, with 20,322 deaths or 16.1 per cent of the medically certified deaths.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) in its Statistics on Causes of Death, Malaysia, 2023 release today (Oct 30) said Ischaemic heart diseases continued as the principal causes of death for the past two decades except in 2021 where COVID-19 infection (due to) topped the list.
There were 13,817 (18.2%) deaths caused by Ischaemic heart diseases for males, while Pneumonia was the principal causes of deaths for females at 7,201 (14.3%).
The number of deaths in 2022 decreased 8.0 per cent from 224,569 deaths in 2021 to 206,525 in 2022. In 2022, 61.1 per cent (126,268) of 206,525 deaths was classified as medically certified deaths while 38.9 per cent (80,257) was non-medically certified deaths.
Ischaemic heart diseases were the principal causes of death for all major ethnic groups in Malaysia with Malay (17.3%), Chinese (14.7%) and Indians (21.1%) except Other Bumiputera which recorded Pneumonia (11.5%) as the principal causes of death.
In terms of the age group, the principal causes of death for population aged 41-59 years and 60 years and over was Ischaemic heart diseases at 20.0 per cent and 16.7 per cent, respectively. Other than that, Transport accidents was the principal causes of death for population aged 15-40 years (19.2%) while Pneumonia was the principal causes of death for population aged 0-14 years (4.0%).
All states recorded Ischaemic heart diseases as the principal causes of death in 2022 except for Sabah and Sarawak which recorded Pneumonia as the principal causes of death in the same year. Kelantan recorded the highest percentage of Ischaemic heart diseases at 23.3 per cent followed by Perlis (23.1%) and Melaka (20.0%).
Ischaemic heart diseases were the principal causes of death in 73 administrative districts and the highest percentage was recorded in Bera, Pahang with 26.9 per cent.
