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Malaysias population grew very quickly between 1820-1970 due to heavy immigration of Chinese Indians Pakistanis and some Malays very much tied to British colonial interests prior to World War 2 and to high rates of natural increase from the 1920s on though accurate data on either phenomenon are available only for recent years. By 1970 the demographic effects of immigration were no longer critical visible only in the ethnic composition of the country; sex ratios and age distribution had returned to nearly normal levels. The high rates of natural increase were due primarily to decreasing death rates. Rates close to 30/1000 were reported for the peninsula between 1926-1930; by 1970 the West Malaysian crude death rate was 7.3/1000. Life expectancy for the population increased from 46 to 64 over the 1947-1970 period. The precise rate of decline and the dates of onset cannot however be calculated for either the Western or Eastern parts of the country. It is estimated that further declines will occur as ethnic and residential differentials are eliminated. Long-run fertility trends are difficult to evaluate due to underregistration and past heavy immigration; however after 1947 estimates combined with registration data do permit analysis of beginning fertility declines. Rates appear to have increased slightly from 1947 to 1957 but to have decreased thereafter. Assuming essentially complete vital registration in 1970 the crude birthrate (CBR) declined by over 30% in West Malaysia between 1957-1970 i.e. from 46.2 to 33.8. The minimum decline in the total fertility rate was somewhere between 24-31% depending on which set of estimates are used. By using several different data sources and extensive calculations the declines can be attributed to a decline in the proportion of women married between 15-24 and to declines in fertility of currently married women due in part to increasing use of family planning after 1967. Declines were not due to changes in the age structure of the population as a whole (41% of females were between the ages of 15-45 in both 1957 and 1970) but age structure did figure into declines in specific ethnic groups especially in the Malayan decline. Neither did declines occur uniformly among different segments of the population; significant urban-rural and ethnic differentials remained in 1970. Such differences completely altered the rank order in fertility rates in the latter instance. In 1957 Indian fertility was highest Chinese 2nd and Malay 3rd while in 1970 Malay was highest Indian 2nd and Chinese 3rd. Different levels of contraceptive use have also undoubtedly contributed to differential declines and levels; urban and Chinese women have made greater use of it than have rural and non-Chinese. Recent urban growth rates do not indicate massive rural-urban migration. That indication coupled with an unfavorable age structure the prospect of further declines in mortality and the fact that changes in marital patterns are not likely to contribute to future declines point to continued rapid population growth in West Malaysia. In East Malaysia an even incipient fertility decline has yet to be detected.
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