Malaysia’s births fall 4.5pc in 2025 as fertility rate drops to 1.5 children per woman

Malaysia's birth rate decreased by 4.5% in 2025, with the total fertility rate (TFR) falling to 1.5 children per woman, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM). In 2025, there were 396,175 live births in the country, a decline of 18,743 from the previous year. The crude birth rate (CBR) also fell, from 12.2 births per 1,000 population in 2024 to 11.6 in 2025.

All ethnic groups saw a decrease in their CBRs, with Malays having the highest at 14.9 births per 1,000 population, and Chinese the lowest at 5.0. At the state level, Terengganu had the highest CBR at 18.7, while Penang had the lowest at 9.3. The TFR decreased from 1.6 children per woman in 2024 to 1.5 in 2025, with Malays' TFR remaining at 1.9 and Chinese' TFR falling to 0.7.

Terengganu recorded the highest TFR at 2.5, followed by Kelantan at 2.3 and Pahang at 1.8. Penang had the lowest TFR at 1.1. Deaths increased by 0.4% in 2025, with Perak having the highest crude death rate (CDR) at 8.2, and Putrajaya the lowest at 2.6.