Ischaemic heart disease has overtaken pneumonia as the leading cause of death in Malaysia, according to the Department of Statistics.
Last year, pneumonia was the main killer in the country, claiming 18,181 lives. In 2024, however, heart disease caused 17,421 deaths, representing 13% of medically certified deaths, while pneumonia accounted for 15,332 deaths. Diabetes (6,929 deaths) and transport accidents (4,428 deaths) followed.
A total of 198,992 deaths were reported in 2024, including 133,844 medically certified deaths and 65,148 uncertified cases — a marked increase from 119,652 medically certified deaths in 2023.
Cancer-related deaths continue to rise, from 5,231 cases in 2001 to 19,180 last year. Most were cancers of the digestive organs (5,825 deaths), followed by ear, respiratory, or intrathoracic organs (2,987 deaths) and breast cancer (2,173 deaths).
Heart disease was the leading cause of death among men, responsible for 12,112 deaths (15.3%), while pneumonia claimed more female lives at 6,776 (12.4%).
Ethnic-specific trends showed heart disease as the main killer for the Malay (10,291 deaths; 13.9%) and Indian communities (2,161 deaths; 17.6%), while pneumonia caused the most deaths among the Chinese (4,231; 12.7%) and other Bumiputera groups (1,016; 9.7%).
Age-specific trends revealed transport accidents as the leading cause of death for Malaysians aged 15 to 40 (20%), heart disease for those 41 to 59 (17.6%), and pneumonia for both seniors aged 60 and above (13.9%) and children aged 0–14 (5.6%).
