PUTRAJAYA, Nov 8 — The number of deaths recorded in the third quarter of 2021 in Malaysia increased by 60.5 per cent to 65,584 compared to 40,858 during the same period in 2020, according to Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin.

He said the Demographic Statistics for the third quarter of 2021 showed that Selangor recorded the highest number of deaths at 13,926 and the Federal Territory of Putrajaya the lowest at 90.

"Deaths due to Covid-19 were the main contributor to the significant increase in the number of deaths in the third quarter of 2021,” he said in a statement today.

Of the deaths in the third quarter of 2021, a total of 21,165 were due to Covid-19, an increase from 15 in the same period in 2020, he said.

Selangor registered the highest number of deaths due to Covid-19 with 7,788 while Putrajaya registered the lowest with only nine, he said.

According to Mohd Uzir, deaths due to Covid-19 also increased in the third quarter of 2021 in Asean countries such as Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam, and a similar trend was also observed in developed countries such as the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom.

Mohd Uzir said the number of births recorded in the third quarter of this year in Malaysia decreased by 0.5 per cent to 120,147 compared to 120,725 during the same period in 2020.

Male babies outnumbered females at 61,613 to 58,534 births, with Selangor recording the highest live births at 22,956 babies, while Labuan the lowest with 430 births, he said.

According to Mohd Uzir, the decline in the number of births was in line with the trend in other countries such as the United States, South Korea, the United Kingdom, France and Spain.

Mohd Uzir said Malaysia’s population in the third quarter of 2021 was estimated at 32.67 million, an increase of 0.2 per cent over the 32.60 million in the third quarter of 2020.

The total population comprised 30.01 million citizens or 91.9 per cent and 2.65 million or 8.1 per cent non-citizens, he said.

In the third quarter of 2021, males outnumbered females at 16.77 million to 15.89 million, with a ratio of 106 males per 100 females, he said.

Mohd Uzir said three states with the highest population composition in the third quarter of 2021 were Selangor with 20.1 per cent, followed by Sabah (11.7 per cent) and Johor (11.6 per cent). — Bernama