Chief statistician Uzir Mahidin said girls born this year are expected to live up to 77.8 years. This compares to a boy born this year, who is expected to live for 73 years.

According to the department’s previous publication for the years 2020-2022, a baby born in 2022 was expected to live an average of 73.4 years, reflecting an increase of 1.8 years in 2024.

The 2022-2024 report also revealed that the Petaling district in Selangor recorded the highest life expectancy at birth of 80.2 years.

Conversely, Kuala Penyu in Sabah has the lowest life expectancy at birth for the period of 2022-2024.

Notably, males in Samarahan in Sarawak can expect to live for 79.6 years, while females in Petaling are expected to live for 82.1 years.

Uzir noted that life expectancy at birth recorded an increase of 1.2 years for 2023 to 2024.

“The increase in life expectancy is due to the lower number of deaths in 2023 and 2024 compared to 2021 and 2022. This can be attributed to the many deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he added in a statement.

Chinese continue to register the highest life expectancy at birth in 2024 at 77.1 years and Indians the lowest at 71.7 years.