PUTRAJAYA, Nov 3 — The nation is home to 9.03 million children under the age of 18, representing 26.4 per cent of the total population of 34.23 million, according to the Children Statistics 2025 released by the Statistics Department (DOSM) today.
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said of these, 4.66 million are boys and 4.37 million are girls, with children under five years of age totalling 2.31 million.
“Putrajaya recorded the highest percentage of children under 18 (39.9 per cent), followed by Kelantan (33.5 per cent) and Terengganu (32.9 per cent).
“Selangor recorded the highest number of children at 1.81 million, while Labuan recorded the lowest at 0.03 million,” he said in a statement.
In terms of health, infant immunisation coverage declined in 2024 across all five major immunisations, where coverage for polio, diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough) [DTP]; Haemophilus influenzae type b (HIB) and Hepatitis B each fell by 6.1 percentage points, while Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) declined by 0.3 percentage points.
The number of registered Child Care Centres (TASKA) increased by 1.4 per cent to 3,198 in 2024.
“Johor recorded the highest growth at 29.4 per cent, while Putrajaya experienced the largest decrease at 21.0 per cent.
“Government and government-aided school enrolment declined by 0.2 per cent, with a 3.0 per cent drop at the upper secondary level. Private school enrolment also decreased by 0.3 per cent, primarily due to a 3.4 per cent decline in kindergarten enrolment,” Uzir said.
The number of children in need of care and protection rose by 12.7 per cent to 9,624 cases in 2024. Of these, girls accounted for 6,031 cases, while boys saw a sharper increase of 15.2 per cent as compared to 11.3 per cent among girls.
On the other hand, he said the number of children involved in crime decreased by 4.2 per cent to 2,627 cases.
“Bumiputera children made up the majority at 82.2 per cent, followed by Chinese (9.0 per cent), Indians (4.9 per cent), and others (4.1 per cent).
