A boy climbs a swing on a beach in Penarik village, in the Setiu district of the eastern Malaysian state of Terengganu.The Star/ANN File Photo

PETALING JAYA – More children in Malaysia required care and protection last year, according to data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

In its latest Children Statistics 2025 report, DOSM said cases involving children requiring care and protection increased by 12.7 per cent to 9,624 in 2024, compared with the previous year.

While girls accounted for 62.7 per cent of the total, the increase was more pronounced among boys, which rose by 15.2 per cent last year.

The term “children in need of care and protection” refers to children who face or are at risk of abuse, neglect or abandonment.

It includes cases where parents or guardians were unfit, unwilling or unable to provide proper care, or when a child had been left without anyone suitable to look after them, as defined under Section 17(1) of the Child Act.

Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said Malaysia is home to 9.03 million children under the age of 18, making up 26.4 per cent of the total population of 34.23 million.

“From the figure, 4.66 million are boys and 4.37 million are girls, while children under five years old total 2.31 million,” he said in a statement.

Among states and federal territories, Putrajaya recorded the highest proportion of children at 39.9 per cent of its total population, followed by Kelantan (33.5 per cent) and Terengganu (32.9 per cent).

Selangor had the highest number of children aged under 18, totalling 1.81 million, while Labuan had the lowest at 0.03 million.

The report also highlighted a slight increase of 1.4 per cent in registered childcare centres (Taska), reaching 3,198 in 2024.

Johor recorded the highest growth in registered centres (29.4 per cent), while Putrajaya saw the largest drop at 21 per cent.

In contrast, school enrolment in government and government-aided schools declined by 0.2 per cent last year to a total of 4.97 million students, largely due to a 3 per cent drop at the upper secondary level.

Private school enrolment also decreased by 0.3 per cent, to 441,371 students last year, mainly driven by a 3.4 per cent decline in kindergarten enrolment.

In terms of education enrolment transition, the percentage from primary to secondary level stood at 91.8 per cent, while the transition from lower to upper secondary was 97.6 per cent.

However, only 18 per cent of students from the upper secondary level moved on to the post-secondary level.

Overall live births declined by 9 per cent, decreasing to 414,918 in 2024 from 455,761 in the previous year.

Of the total births recorded last year, 213,919 were boys and 200,999 were girls.

There were 3,655 deaths among children under five, including 2,871 infant deaths and 784 deaths among children aged one to four.

The report also showed that there were 1,517 registered childcare protection centres nationwide, housing 38,955 children in 2024. — The Star/ANN