KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 28 — For babies born in 2022, their average life expectancy is predicted to be shorter at an average of 73.4 years, slightly down from 74.5 years for babies born in 2021, according to the figures released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia, today.

The statistics of life expectancy in this country have been recording a drop since 2020, partly contributed by the excess deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Based on the statistics, Malaysian women are expected to live longer than the men, with the difference of 4.5 years in 2022.

Male babies born in 2020 are expected to live for an average of 72.5 years, 72.3 years (2021) and 71.3 years (2022), while the female babies are expected to live for 77.2 years, 77 years (2021) and 75.8 years (2022), according to the department.

The males and females who reach the age of 15 this year, are respectively expected to live for another 56.9 years and 61.3 years.

Those aged 60 in 2022 are expected to live for another 17.5 and 20.1 years, reaching the age of 77.5 and 80.1 years for the males and females respectively.

Males and females aged 65 in 2022 are expected to live for another 14.2 and 16.4 years respectively. This means that the males are expected to live until the age 79.2 years and the females until 81.4 years.

The Chinese are expected to have the longest life expectancy, with the men for 73.5 years and the women, 79.4 years.

Six states are recorded as having life expectancies that exceed the national level (73.4 years), with Selangor (75.2 years); the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur (74.0 years), Putrajaya and Labuan (74.5 years); Sarawak (74.3 years) and Sabah (73.5 years) in 2022. — Bernama