Chinese community in Malaysia records declined birth rate

The Malaysian Chinese community is expected to form a smaller percentage of the total population in the future given the steadily declined birth rate in the last decade, official figure showed on Tuesday.

The fertility rate of the Chinese minority in Malaysia dropped from 2.6 per woman in 2000 to 1.4 in 2014, according to the National Statistics Department.

Meanwhile, the fertility rate of the Malay majority and other indigenous groups in the country was 2.6 children per woman in 2014.

Overall, Malaysia's fertility rate was at 2.0 children per woman aged 15 to 49.

The population of the Malaysian Chinese, more advanced economically, dropped from 38 percent of the total population in 1957, the year Malaysia gained its independence, to 24.6 percent based on the 2010 population census.

It is likely to shrink should the current low birth rate continues.

The government report said a decline in fertility rate was a sign of greater prosperity and changes in lifestyle as people marry much later in life. Lower birth rate was also recorded for other races. Enditem