KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's population in the first quarter of this year was estimated at 34 million, an increase of 2.3 percent as compared to 33.2 million a year ago, official data showed Tuesday.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement that the population growth was contributed by the positive natural increase of citizens and higher population of noncitizens.
According to the DOSM, the total population comprised 30.6 million (90 percent) citizens and 3.4 million (10 percent) noncitizens.
The male population increased to 17.8 million from 17.4 million a year ago, while the female population rose to 16.1 million from 15.8 million.
By ethnicity, Malays accounted for 57.9 percent (17.7 million) of the population recorded in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, the number of live births fell 9.4 percent year on year to 106,386.
A total of 47,964 deaths were recorded in the first quarter, a decrease of 1.5 percent as compared to a year earlier. ■