There's happy news for all expecting families! Your babies' life expectancy has increased to nearly 75 years.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) had recently released its Abridged Life Tables for the years 2018-2020, with a positive outlook for newborn babies.
According to the DOSM, the Abridged Life Tables present life tables categorized by age, ethnic group, and sex. They are based on the mortality statistics in Malaysia.
And in the latest statistics, it shows that newborns will live longer lives.
According to the research, a newborn baby is expected to live 0.4 years longer, up to 74.9 years old.
This is in comparison to 2014 results that showed newborns were expected to live until 74.5 years old.
Newborn baby girls are expected to live up to 77.6 years old while newborn baby boys are expected to live until 72.6 years old.
But it's not just babies who get the good news. The life expectancy for older folks has also increased.
People at the age of 60 years old are expected to live longer lives too.
Both women and men who have reached the ages of 60 are expected to live for another 21.2 years and 18.4 years respectively.
The results are in line with the increase in population of elderly folks aged 60 and older.
According to the DOSM, the population of elderly folks has increased from 3.4 million in 2019 to 3.5 million in 2020. They make up a whopping 10.7 percent of the total population in Malaysia.
The DOSM also looked at life expectancy based on ethnic groups.
The life expectancy for Malaysian Chinese continue to be the highest at 77.6 years, followed by Bumiputera (Malaysian Malays) at 73.7 years, and Malaysian Indians at 72.1 years.
Women among these ethnic groups are also generally expected to live longer than their male counterparts with Malaysian Chinese women expected to live up to 80.5 years and Malaysian Chinese men expected to live up to 75.4 years.
The same is reflected for Bumiputera women who are expected to live until 76.3 years and Bumiputera men who are expected to live until 71.3 years. Malaysian Indian women are expected to live until 76.2 years while Malaysian Indian men have the lowest life expectancy rate of 68.4 years.
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Cover image sourced from New Straits Times.
