There are 4.77 million boys and 4.47 million girls in 2020.

“This decrease is significant for children aged 0-4 years and 13-17 years.

“For children aged 0-4 years, the decline is 1.5%, or 37,800. This is due to the decrease in the number of live births to 488,000 in 2019 compared with 502,000 in the previous year.

“Children aged 13-17 years also decreased by 1.5%, or 41,600,” chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in a statement today.

On health-related matters, Uzir said all immunisation coverage for infants in 2019, namely bacillus calmette-guerin, poliomyelitis, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, haemophilus influenzae type b and hepatitis B, had exceeded 95% and reached the national immunisation coverage target.

To meet the needs of childcare, he said, the number of registered childcare centres increased 11.2% to 4,903 in 2019, with the highest increase recorded in Selangor (19.7%), followed by Perlis (19%) and Penang (16.5%).

“This was in line with the increase in the number of women being employed to 5.87 million in 2019,” he said.

Uzir said enrolment in government and government-aided schools increased by 9,500 from 4.84 million to 4.85 million in 2019, and such increase was due to pre-school (0.7%) and primary school (1.3%) levels of education.

“For private schools, enrolment at kindergartens and primary schools increased by 3,000 and 200, respectively, in 2019 compared with the previous year,” he said.

Based on Social Welfare Department data, Uzir said the number of new cases of people with disabilities among children in 2019 was 20,321, with those aged six to 12 making up the biggest group at 50.5%.

Uzir added that the number of children (those who are 18 and below) involved in crime decreased by 8.7% from 5,294 cases in 2018 to 4,833 cases in 2019.