East Asia & Pacific · Upper-middle income
Malaysia: key statistics
Malaysia has 36.0m people (2025) and a GDP per person of $13,125. Below: 79 indicators with the latest year, world rank and change over ten years.
- Capital
- Kuala Lumpur
- Region
- East Asia & Pacific
- Income group
- Upper-middle income
- Currency
- Malaysian ringgit MYR
- Languages
- Malay
- ISO codes
- MYMYS
- Land neighbours
- Brunei, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand
Population36.0m2025 · rank 45 of 217GDP$472bn2025 · rank 34 of 211GDP per capita$13,1252025 · rank 94 of 211Life expectancy76.8 yrs2024 · rank 86 of 217Internet users98.0%2024 · rank 12 of 188Fertility1.542024 · rank 144 of 217CO₂ per person8.32 t2024 · rank 26 of 203Inflation1.4%2025 · rank 137 of 180
topic profiles
Malaysia, topic by topic
Each profile brings together the indicators of one topic with world and regional rank, values since 2000, group averages and a comparison with neighbours.
Population
Malaysia
GDP per capita
MalaysiaEast Asia & PacificWorld
Life expectancy
MalaysiaEast Asia & PacificWorld
Internet users
MalaysiaEast Asia & PacificWorld
all indicators
Malaysia by topic
World rank counts countries with a value in the recent window; regional rank is within East Asia & Pacific.
PopulationFull population profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 36.0m | 2025 | 45/217 | 9/37 | +15% | 8.2bn | |
| Population growth | 1.17% | 2025 | 91/217 | 11/37 | −0.6 pp | 0.91% | |
| Urban share | 77.4% | 2025 | 68/217 | 14/37 | +4.0 pp | 57.8% | |
| Fertility | 1.54 | 2024 | 144/217 | 28/37 | −25% | 2.19 | |
| Aged 65+ | 8.0% | 2025 | 118/217 | 18/37 | +2.3 pp | 10.4% | |
| Aged 0–14 | 21.3% | 2025 | 111/217 | 22/37 | −4.5 pp | 24.4% | |
| Density | 108.2 | 2024 | 98/216 | 20/37 | +16% | 62.1 | |
| Birth rate | 12.4 | 2024 | 115/217 | 25/37 | −26% | 16.3 | |
| Area | 330,534 km² | 2024 | 68/216 | 10/37 | ±0.0% | 140,539,257 km² |
EconomyFull economy profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP | $472bn | 2025 | 34/211 | 10/36 | +57% | $118tn | |
| GDP per capita | $13,125 | 2025 | 94/211 | 17/36 | +36% | $14,406 | |
| GDP per capita, PPP | $41,498 | 2025 | 64/199 | 9/31 | +69% | $25,704 | |
| GNI per capita | $12,380 | 2025 | 86/201 | 14/33 | +20% | $14,244 | |
| GDP growth | 5.2% | 2025 | 46/210 | 8/36 | +0.1 pp | 2.9% | |
| GDP per capita growth | 3.9% | 2025 | 53/210 | 12/36 | +0.7 pp | 2.0% | |
| Agriculture share | 8.2% | 2025 | 82/198 | 19/29 | −0.1 pp | 4.0% | |
| Industry share | 35.7% | 2025 | 28/201 | 8/30 | −2.8 pp | 25.0% | |
| Services share | 54.8% | 2025 | 123/201 | 20/30 | +2.8 pp | 63.3% | |
| Investment | 20.5% | 2025 | 117/175 | 24/27 | −5.0 pp | 26.3% | |
| Savings | 22.0% | 2025 | 86/163 | 17/25 | −6.4 pp | 26.0% |
Prices & public financeFull prices & public finance profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inflation | 1.4% | 2025 | 137/180 | 18/27 | −0.7 pp | 3.0% | |
| Real interest rate | 5.3% | 2025 | 63/136 | 11/24 | +2.0 pp | — | |
| Lending rate | 4.8% | 2025 | 120/136 | 19/24 | +0.3 pp | — | |
| Exchange rate | 4.28 | 2025 | 122/210 | 18/36 | +9.7% | — | |
| Government debt | 64.6% | 2024 | 24/78 | 4/17 | +11.9 pp | — | |
| Tax revenue | 12.4% | 2024 | 103/142 | 20/25 | −2.4 pp | 13.9% | |
| Government expense | 17.0% | 2023 | 114/142 | 21/25 | −3.6 pp | 28.5% | |
| Military spending | 1.04% | 2025 | 114/156 | 16/18 | −0.5 pp | 2.48% |
Trade & investmentFull trade & investment profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exports | 71.0% | 2025 | 28/184 | 7/32 | +1.5 pp | 29.5% | |
| Imports | 65.4% | 2025 | 46/184 | 15/32 | +3.5 pp | 28.5% | |
| Trade openness | 136.4% | 2025 | 30/184 | 7/32 | +5.0 pp | 68.5% | |
| Current account | 1.6% | 2025 | 58/185 | 16/29 | −1.4 pp | — | |
| FDI inflows | 4.6% | 2025 | 44/197 | 9/32 | +1.3 pp | 1.4% | |
| Remittances | 1.9% | 2025 | 103/178 | 15/26 | +1.3 pp | 0.8% | |
| Tourist arrivals | 4.3m | 2020 | 40/196 | 4/35 | −82% | 2.4bn |
LabourFull labour profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment | 3.8% | 2025 | 124/187 | 12/29 | +0.7 pp | 4.8% | |
| Youth unemployment | 12.0% | 2025 | 99/187 | 10/29 | +1.0 pp | 13.4% | |
| Participation rate | 66.1% | 2025 | 52/187 | 12/29 | +0.9 pp | 61.0% | |
| Women's participation | 51.6% | 2025 | 105/187 | 20/29 | +0.8 pp | 48.9% |
Aid, poverty & equalityFull aid, poverty & equality profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net ODA received | $6.6m | 2023 | 142/145 | 23/24 | +106% | $259bn | |
| ODA, % of GNI | 0.0% | 2023 | 138/139 | 22/23 | ±0.0 pp | 0.2% | |
| ODA per person | $0.19 | 2023 | 144/145 | 23/24 | +105% | $32.2 | |
| Extreme poverty | 0.0% | 2021 | 144/151 | 16/17 | −0.4 pp | 10.1% | |
| Poverty, $4.20/day | 0.1% | 2021 | 143/151 | 17/17 | −1.8 pp | 18.2% | |
| National poverty rate | 5.1% | 2023 | 140/145 | 13/15 | — | — | |
| Gini index | 40.7 | 2021 | 33/151 | 1/17 | −6.7% | — | |
| Undernourishment | 2.5% | 2024 | 141/167 | 20/23 | −1.3 pp | 8.1% | |
| Women in parliament | 13.5% | 2025 | 156/190 | 19/30 | +3.2 pp | 27.2% |
EducationFull education profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult literacy | 95.8% | 2022 | 58/141 | 15/23 | +2.6 pp | 87.7% | |
| Female literacy | 94.7% | 2022 | 62/147 | 14/24 | +3.9 pp | 84.6% | |
| Primary enrolment | 90.4% | 2024 | 163/191 | 27/30 | −6.8 pp | 102.2% | |
| Secondary enrolment | 80.3% | 2024 | 128/176 | 23/26 | −3.0 pp | 77.3% | |
| Tertiary enrolment | 38.5% | 2024 | 100/172 | 16/27 | +0.1 pp | 43.6% | |
| Primary completion | 87.7% | 2024 | 118/168 | 21/26 | −9.2 pp | 88.0% | |
| Pupils per teacher | 11.7 | 2017 | 148/173 | 26/27 | −22% | 23.4 | |
| Education spending | 3.5% | 2023 | 119/184 | 19/29 | −2.0 pp | 3.6% |
HealthFull health profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy | 76.8 yrs | 2024 | 86/217 | 13/37 | +2.0% | 73.5 yrs | |
| Infant mortality | 7.0 | 2024 | 138/196 | 24/30 | +6.1% | 27.7 | |
| Under-5 mortality | 8.3 | 2024 | 136/196 | 23/30 | +2.5% | 37.4 | |
| Maternal mortality | 26 | 2023 | 118/194 | 24/30 | −10% | 197 | |
| Health spending | 4.0% | 2023 | 156/193 | 24/29 | +0.4 pp | 10.1% | |
| Health spending per person | $450 | 2023 | 100/193 | 13/29 | +18% | $1,317 | |
| Physicians | 2.34 | 2023 | 77/180 | 8/25 | +51% | 1.86 | |
| Measles vaccination | 96% | 2024 | 52/193 | 9/30 | +4.0 pp | 84% | |
| HIV prevalence | 0.3% | 2024 | 88/153 | 10/18 | −0.1 pp | 0.7% | |
| Child stunting | 21.2% | 2022 | 55/154 | 11/25 | +3.7 pp | — | |
| Basic water | 97.9% | 2024 | 96/206 | 20/37 | +0.6 pp | 91.5% | |
| Basic sanitation | 96.0% | 2024 | 89/203 | 15/37 | +0.7 pp | 82.2% |
Digital & energy accessFull digital & energy access profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internet users | 98.0% | 2024 | 12/188 | 1/28 | +34.4 pp | 73.6% | |
| Mobile subscriptions | 139.7 | 2024 | 43/210 | 9/34 | −4.6% | 111.5 | |
| Fixed broadband | 13.5 | 2024 | 104/208 | 15/34 | +36% | 20.1 | |
| Electricity access | 100.0% | 2024 | 64/215 | 9/36 | +0.3 pp | 91.9% | |
| Clean cooking | 100.0% | 2024 | 25/192 | 4/30 | +1.0 pp | 75.4% |
EnvironmentFull environment profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CO₂ per person | 8.32 t | 2024 | 26/203 | 8/37 | +1.6% | 4.69 t | |
| Renewable energy | 7.5% | 2021 | 159/212 | 23/37 | +5.3 pp | 19.7% | |
| Renewable power | 17.0% | 2021 | 125/206 | 18/35 | +10.3 pp | 27.8% | |
| Forest cover | 57.7% | 2024 | 37/214 | 13/35 | −1.3 pp | 31.1% | |
| Arable land | 2.6% | 2024 | 163/206 | 20/34 | +0.1 pp | 10.7% | |
| Water withdrawals | 1.2% | 2022 | 149/177 | 17/20 | +0.1 pp | 9.0% |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)
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