DoSM: Samarahan District leads Malaysia in life expectancy for 2022, 2023

KUCHING (Oct 1): Samarahan District has recorded the highest life expectancy at birth for males and females by administrative districts in Malaysia for 2022 and 2023, said chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin.

The district’s life expectancy of 79.6 years in 2023 and 79.5 years in 2022 were the longest nationwide, he said in the statement following the release of Abridged Life Tables, Malaysia, 2022-2024 publication by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) yesterday.

He disclosed that the highest life expectancy at birth for males and females by administrative districts for 2024 was recorded in Petaling, Selangor (80.2 years).

“The highest life expectancy at birth for males and females by administrative districts for 2024 was recorded in Petaling, Selangor (80.2 years), while Samarahan, Sarawak, recorded the highest life expectancy in 2023 (79.6 years) and 2022 (79.5 years).

“Kuala Penyu, Sabah, recorded the lowest life expectancy at birth for males and females for the period of 2022-2024.

“In overall, 31 of 156 districts surpassed life expectancy at national level. The life expectancy at birth was highest for males in Samarahan, Sarawak (79.6 years) and females in Petaling, Selangor (82.1 years).”

For the period of 2022 to 2024, he said the highest life expectancy at birth for males and females by state was recorded by Selangor, while Terengganu recorded the lowest life expectancy for the same period.

He also disclosed that three states exceeded the national level life expectancy for 2024, namely Selangor, Labuan and Kuala Lumpur.

“For the period of 2014 to 2019, life expectancy at birth increased by 0.3 years, with males increasing by 0.1 years and females by 0.4 years. However, from 2020 to 2022, life expectancy at birth decreased by 0.9 years, with males decreasing by 1.0 year while females decreased by 0.8 years.

“For 2023 to 2024, life expectancy at birth recorded an increase of 1.2 years. The increase in life expectancy is due to the lower number of deaths in year 2023 and 2024 as compared to 2021 and 2022, which was attributed to excess deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

He also mentioned that those of Chinese ethnicity continue to register the highest life expectancy at birth in 2024, at 77.1 years. In contrast, the lowest life expectancy at birth is recorded by Indians, at 71.7 years for
the same year.

At the state level, he said life expectancy at birth for other Bumiputera, Chinese and Indians except Malay was the highest in Labuan as compared to other states in 2024.

On a related matter, he said males who reach the age of 15 and 60 years in 2024 are expected to live for another 58.8 years and 18.6 years, respectively. This indicates that males aged 15 and 60 years in 2024 is expected to live until the age of 73.8 years and 78.6 years, respectively.

“On the other hand, females in the same age groups are expected to live for another 63.4 years and 21.4 years, with life expectancy of 78.4 years and 81.4 years, respectively,” he added.

Regarding the Abridged Life Tables, Malaysia, 2022-2024 publication, he said it also features an article regarding Health-Adjusted Life Expectancy (HALE) at birth.

He said that based on this article, Malaysia from 2017-2021 saw a decrease of 0.4 years in life expectancy at birth for both sexes, from 74.4 years to 74.0 years.

“HALE indicates that a person’s life expectancy at birth will be shorter as compared to the standard life expectancy, taking into account the burden of disease experienced by the individuals.

“In 2021, the HALE for males was 8.8 years shorter than the standard life expectancy of 71.8 years. For females in 2021, the HALE was 11.4 years shorter than the standard life expectancy of 76.5 years. There are three main factors influencing HALE in a country: income, education and lifestyle,” he said.