GEORGE TOWN, July 29 ― Penang recorded the lowest fertility rate with 1.3 babies per woman aged between 15 and 49 in 2018, said Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin.

He said besides Penang, three more states registered the lowest fertility rate which is below replacement level of 2.1 children, namely Sabah (1.4 children), Kuala Lumpur (1.5) and Sarawak (1.6).

"On average, the number of births in Penang is 60,000 births a year.  This rate is seriously (low) because we are below the normal rate of 2.1 children,” he told reporters after the launch of the Penang-level Malaysian Population and Housing Census 2020 by Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, here today.

According to Mohd Uzir, the issue will lead to the situation where current productive citizens will have to support senior citizens for a longer period following the decline in the number of succeeding generation to share the responsibility with.

He added that generally, the fertility rate in Malaysia had dwindled to 1.8 children per woman aged 15 to 49 in 2018 from 1.9 in 2017. ― Bernama