Malaysian women have longer lifespan than men

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysians are now living longer with women enjoying a longer lifespan of five years more than men, says Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan.

These findings were based on the life expectancy data which has been analysed by the Statistics Department, he added.

“The life expectancy of Malaysians in 2017 increased to 78.8 years. What is interesting is that women here live longer than men,” he said at the launch of the Statistics Department’s ‘Malaysia In Figures’ data yesterday.

Life expectancy rose by slightly more than four years from 74.7 years last year.

Women’s life expectancy is at 77.4 years compared to 72.7 years for men.

He added the data also revealed that a baby was born every minute in the country while some 18 deaths were recorded hourly.

On the nation’s population, Abdul Rahman said Malaysia now has a population of more than 32.1 million people as of June this year.

He noted that the data also revealed that some 15.3% of the population would have aged when Malaysia becomes an ageing nation by 2030.

“That is why it is important that we need to start planning now on what sort of homes and facilities to build to cater to an ageing population,” he added.

On the nation’s economy, Abdul Rahman said that it grew by 4.2%.

“The nation’s GDP grew to 5.6% in the first quarter of this year compared to 4.5% for the same period last year,” he added.

He was optimistic that economic growth for the second quarter of this year would show further improvement when the latest figures are announced this Friday.

The Malaysia In Figures data can be accessed from the Statistics Department website while printed versions would be made available to institutions of higher learning.