PUTRAJAYA (Bernama): The number of births recorded in the second quarter of this year in Malaysia declined by 4.4% to 111,573 births compared to 116,688 births during the same period in 2020, the Demographic Statistics reported on Wednesday (Aug 11).

       Commenting on the report in a statement today, Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin (pic) said female babies outnumbered male babies with 55,881 births compared to male babies (55,692 births), with Selangor recording the highest live births at 20,389 babies.

       "It was anticipated earlier that lockdown during Covid-19 would lead to baby boom but statistics showed otherwise,” he said.

       He explained that the decline in the number of births was also in line with other countries such as the US, South Korea, United Kingdom, France and Spain.

       Commenting further, Mohd Uzir said a total of 44,307 deaths was recorded in the second quarter of 2021, an increase of 10.1% as compared to the second quarter of 2020 with 40,241 deaths.

       During the period, Selangor recorded the highest number of deaths with 6,818 deaths while Putrajaya recorded the lowest with 53 deaths.

       Mohd Uzir said a total of 3,898 deaths during the second quarter of 2021 was due to Covid-19, an increase from 78 deaths during the same period in 2020.

       The data also showed that the highest deaths due to Covid-19 were recorded in the 65-69 age group, and followed by the 70-74 age group, he said.

       "Selangor registered the highest number of deaths due to Covid-19 with 1,236 deaths while Putrajaya registered the lowest with only four deaths,” he said.

       Mohd Uzir said the Covid-19 pandemic did not significantly impact Malaysia’s life expectancy at birth.

       "The life expectancy for a baby born in 2021 on average is expected to live and reach the age of 75.6 years, 1.3 years longer than a decade ago, 74.3 years in 2011,” he said.

       Mohd Uzir said based on the current population estimates, Malaysia’s population in the second quarter of 2021 was estimated at 32.66 million, increased by 0.2% as compared to 32.58 million in the second quarter of 2020.

       The total population comprised 29.96 million citizens or 91.8% while 2.69 million or 8.2% were non-citizens, he said.

       He said the composition of non-citizens declined from 8.9% in the second quarter of 2020 to 8.2% in the second quarter of 2021. - Bernama