Total fertility rates rise across ethnicities, but Chinese still low

Total fertility rates (TFR) for Malaysia rose for the first time in a decade to 1.7 children per woman in 2023, compared to 1.6 the year before, the Statistics Department said.

The TFR measures the number of children birthed by each woman aged 15 to 49 in the population.

The rate grew by 0.1 across ethnicities last year, with Malay TFR being the highest at 2.2 children per woman in 2023, up from 2.1 the year before…