PUTRAJAYA, Oct 27 — Covid-19 infection was the principal cause of deaths in Malaysia in 2021 with 31,063 deaths recorded out of the total of 157,251 medically certified deaths reported, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

DOSM said Ischaemic heart disease was the second highest cause of deaths with 13.7 per cent followed by Pneumonia (11.1 per cent), Cerebrovascular diseases (6.5 per cent) and Transport accidents (1.9 per cent).

"Covid-19 infection was the main cause of deaths for males and females with 17,708 and 13,355 deaths respectively,” DOSM said in a statement today.

DOSM said the principal cause of deaths for major ethnic groups in Malaysia in 2021 was also Covid-19 infection with Malays accounting for 17.9 per cent, Other Bumiputera (18.5 per cent), Chinese (16.3 per cent) and Indians (19.5 per cent).

According to the department, all age groups recorded Covid-19 infection as the leading cause of deaths except for the age group of 0-14 years where transport-related accidents was the main cause.

"Nine states recorded Covid-19 infection as the principal cause of deaths in 2021 except for Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis and Terengganu. These states reported ischaemic heart disease as the principal cause of deaths.

"Meanwhile, only Putrajaya recorded pneumonia as the principal cause of deaths at 12.4 per cent,” DOSM said. — Bernama