Malaysia recorded 414,918 live births in 2024, marking a sharp 9.0% decline or 40,843 fewer births compared to 455,761 births in 2023, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
The fall in live births pushed the crude birth rate (CBR) down to 12.2 births per 1,000 population, from 13.6 a year earlier. Male babies continued to outnumber females, with 213,919 boys and 200,999 girls born in 2024.
By ethnicity, Malays accounted for 65.7% (272,718 births) of total live births, down from 67.0% in 2023. The proportion of Chinese births rose slightly from 9.8% (44,818) to 10.8% (44,914), while Indian births declined marginally to 4.3% (17,914) from 4.4% (20,064).
Among Other Bumiputera—who made up 12.5% of total births—Sabah Bumiputera formed the largest share (58.4%), followed by Sarawak Bumiputera (33.5%). Within these groups, Kadazan/Dusun and Iban were the largest subgroups, accounting for 35.0% and 59.1% of their respective categories.
All states saw declines in CBR in 2024. Terengganu recorded the highest birth rate at 19.3 births per 1,000 population, followed by Kelantan (16.9) and Kedah (13.8). Penang posted the lowest at 10.1 births.
The total fertility rate (TFR)—the average number of children born per woman aged 15 to 49—also slipped from 1.7 in 2023 to 1.6 in 2024, continuing the long-term trend below the replacement level of 2.1.
Among major ethnic groups, Malay women recorded the highest fertility rate at 1.9, while Chinese women remained the lowest at 0.9, unchanged from the previous year.
By state, Terengganu again topped the chart with a TFR of 2.6, followed by Kelantan (2.3) and Pahang (1.9). Penang recorded the lowest fertility rate at 1.2 children per woman.
On mortality, the number of deaths increased slightly by 1.0% to 198,992 in 2024, from 196,965 in 2023. Despite the increase, the crude death rate (CDR) edged down marginally from 5.9 to 5.8 deaths per 1,000 population.
Men accounted for 57.2% (113,866 deaths), while women made up 42.8% (85,126 deaths).
By ethnicity, Malays represented 51.8% of total deaths, while Chinese and Indians remained steady at 26.3% and 8.4%, respectively.
Perak recorded the highest death rate at 8.2 deaths per 1,000 population, while Putrajaya had the lowest at 2.5 deaths. Eleven states recorded death rates higher than the national average.
The age group 70–74 years saw the highest number of deaths at 24,513 cases (12.3%), while children aged 5–9 years had the lowest with 412 deaths (0.2%).
The mean age at death fell slightly from 65.5 years in 2023 to 65.4 years in 2024, while the median age remained unchanged at 69 years.
