PUTRAJAYA, May 14 — Malaysia’s population in the first quarter of 2024 was estimated at 34 million, an increase of 2.3 per cent as compared to 33.2 million recorded in the same period of 2023, according to the Demographic Statistics report released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin in a statement today said the total population comprised 90 per cent or 30.6 million citizens and 10 per cent or 3.4 million non-citizens.

He said the country’s male population increased to 17.8 million from 17.4 million in the first quarter of 2023 and females rose to 16.1 million from 15.8 million in the same period.

"The overall sex ratio of population was 111 males per 100 females while sex ratio for citizens was 103 males per 100 females,” he said.

According to him, Malay accounted 57.9 per cent (17.7 million) of the population in the first quarter 2024 (Q1 2023: 17.6 million), while Chinese, Indians and other Bumiputera remained at 22.6 per cent, 6.6 per cent and 12.2 per cent, respectively.

Mohd Uzir said the number of live births in the first quarter of 2024 recorded a decrease of 9.4 per cent or 106,386 births as compared to 117,413 births recorded in the same period of the previous year.

Selangor recorded the highest live births with 19,951 births (18.8 per cent) while Labuan recorded the lowest at 323 births (0.3 per cent).

A total of 47,964 deaths was recorded in the first quarter of 2024, with Selangor recording the highest number of deaths at 7,730 while Putrajaya recorded the lowest with 68 deaths.

"Age group 60 years and above recorded the highest number of deaths at 34,067 deaths (71 per cent), followed by age 41 to 59 years (19.8 per cent), age 15 to 40 years (seven per cent) and age 0 to 14 years (2.2 per cent),” he said. — Bernama