Overview

ENVIRONMENT STATISTICS 2021

MCO Positivelly Affected The States’ Environment

Environment Statistics 2021 which published by the Department of Statistics Malaysia is a new publication that presents environmental statistics for 14 states encompassing six (6) components namely Environmental Conditions & Quality; Environmental Resources & Their Use; Residuals; Extreme Events & Disasters; Human Settlements & Environmental Health; and Environmental Protection, Management & Engagement. The compilation of these statistics includes environment state and information, impacts of human activities on the environment and actions taken to minimise the impact based on the Framework for the Development of Environment Statistics (FDES), United Nations.

The world was affected by COVID-19 in 2020 and most of the countries took unconventional method to contain the spread such as movement control order which banned inter-state travel activities and some countries isolated themselves by closing their international border. On the other hand, the use of face masks which had been used in dealing with previous pandemics has been reintroduced to reduce COVID-19 infection rate. A few other countries went even further by using a law to compulsory the resident to wear facial mask in public area. Malaysia also implement the Movement Control Order (MCO) and Standard Operation Producers (SOP) was introduced to eliminate the spread of COVID-19. The business activities except essential business was allowed in early stages and in the latter stage, government encouraged work from home system. In addition, schools and colleges were also closed and Home-based Teaching & Learning was introduced for education. In the nutshell, COVID-19 has stifled economic growth as well as having a profound social impact. Nevertheless, less human movement and economic activity have provided much needed relief for the environment to heal itself.

MCO which has restricted industrial activities and the movement of people on the road has a positive impact on the reduction of road accident cases in Malaysia. For the first time the road accident rate showed a very significant drop in 2020 since 1990. The road accident rate registered a double digit decline of 26.3 per cent (2020: 418,237 cases) as compared to an increment of 3.4 per cent in 2019 or less 149,279 cases. Moreover, in 2020 a total of 4,634 deaths cases were recorded due to road accidents, compared to 6,167 deaths in the previous year. This figure shows a decrease of 1,533 deaths during the implementation of the MCO.

Selangor has recorded the highest number of road accidents in 2020 at 123,230 cases, a decrease of 26.7 percent compared to in 2019 (168,222 cases). This was followed by Johor (58,207 cases) and W.P. Kuala Lumpur (50,215 cases). The three states that recorded the lowest number of road accident cases were Perlis (1,615 cases), Terengganu (9,152 cases) and Kelantan (9,752 cases) .

Most of the air quality status by station throughout Malaysia recorded overall more days of "good" and "moderate" air quality status for 2020 compared 2019. In term of better improvement number days of “good” status, the Sibu station recorded 291 days (2019: 96 days) followed by Kluang station 277 days (2019: 84 days) and Pengerang station 274 days (2019: 111 days).  

The closing of state and national borders through MCO has affected the tourism industry drastically. Tourism attraction areas such as islands and beaches were literally deserted had improved the reading of the Marine Water Quality Index at selected stations. In 2020, the number of stations that recorded index value readings for the “excellent” category in island area increased to 46 stations compared to 34 stations in 2019 where the highest state was Kedah with 12 stations (2019: 8 stations) followed by Terengganu with 11 stations (2019: 6 stations). Meanwhile, for the coastal area, a total of 55 stations recorded readings in the “excellent” category compared to 37 stations from the previous year. The states that recorded the highest number of stations in this category were Terengganu with 13 stations (2019: 7 stations), Johor with 12 stations (2019: 3 stations) and Pahang with 9 stations (2019: 4 stations).

Meanwhile, clinical waste had direct impact of Covid-19 cases. The management of clinical waste was faced with challenging task to handle disposed COVID-19 test equipment in health facilities and quarantine centers. The Clinical waste produced in 2020 grew by 18.1 per cent to 39.9 thousand metric tonnes as compared to 33.8 thousand metric tonnes in 2019. Among the states, Selangor generated the highest clinical waste at 9.7 thousand metric tonnes followed by Sarawak (4.1 thousand metric tonnes) and W.P. Kuala Lumpur (4.1 thousand metric tonnes).

Number of road accidents and growth rate, Malaysia, 2016-2020

Number of road accidents by state, Malaysia, 2020

The full publication of the Environment Statistics 2021 can be downloaded through eStatistik  portal.

This publication can be accessed and free download through the eStatistik on the DOSM portal, www.dosm.gov.my.

Johor		Kedah		Kelantan		Melaka
Negeri Sembilan		Pahang		Perak		Perlis
Pulau Pinang		Sabah		Sarawak		Selangor
Terengganu		Wilayah Persekutuan

Released by:

DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS, MALAYSIA
 

29 April 2022

Contact person:

Mohd Yusrizal Ab Razak 
Public Relation Officer
Strategic Communication and International Division
Department of Statistics, Malaysia
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Email : yusrizal.razak[at]dosm.gov.my

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