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Malaysia statistics: country profile & rankings

Updated on by Georank team

Malaysia is an upper-middle-income country with a population of 35.6M people. The capital and largest city is Kuala Lumpur, with 1.98M residents. Malaysia shares land borders with Indonesia, Thailand and Brunei.

Malaysia ranks 39/197 by GDP ($422B) and 81/197 by GDP per capita ($11,867). The top category for both exports and imports is machinery & equipment.

Main facts and rankings

Malaysia Rank
Population
36304998
45/197
GDP
$422B
2024
39/197
GDP per capita
$11,867
2024
81/197
GDP per capita, PPP
$38,729
2024
60/197
Government debt
$297B
2024
32/185
Debt-to-GDP ratio
70.1%
2025
55/185
Government debt per person
$8,353
2024
63/185
Average annual personal income after taxes
$9,650
2025
74/197
Land area 126,854 sq mi 65/197
Population density 280.3 ppl/mi² 85/197
Fertility rate 1.55 133/196
Median age 31.5 years 92/196
Life expectancy 77 years 72/197

Malaysia trends dashboard: time-series charts

Malaysia's economy ranked

Year GDP
1960 $1,916,229,477
1961 $1,901,856,123
1962 $2,001,489,602
1963 $2,510,110,348
1964 $2,674,423,922
1965 $2,956,337,669
1966 $3,143,517,944
1967 $3,188,924,677
1968 $3,330,371,551
1969 $3,664,552,041
1970 $3,864,145,667
1971 $4,244,395,956
1972 $5,043,347,250
1973 $7,662,902,678
1974 $9,496,204,302
1975 $9,298,800,799
1976 $11,050,234,599
1977 $13,139,488,633
1978 $16,358,079,862
1979 $21,213,264,962
1980 $24,488,224,677
1981 $25,004,285,792
1982 $26,804,493,635
1983 $30,347,442,111
1984 $33,942,897,422
1985 $31,199,633,353
1986 $27,734,111,400
1987 $32,181,210,158
1988 $35,272,109,220
1989 $38,847,965,293
1990 $44,024,585,240
1991 $49,143,148,094
1992 $59,167,550,163
1993 $66,894,966,969
1994 $74,478,356,958
1995 $88,705,342,903
1996 $100,855,393,910
1997 $100,005,323,302
1998 $72,167,498,981
1999 $79,148,421,053
2000 $93,789,736,842
2001 $92,783,947,368
2002 $100,845,526,316
2003 $110,202,368,421
2004 $124,749,473,684
2005 $143,534,405,819
2006 $162,692,258,307
2007 $193,549,569,478
2008 $230,811,614,370
2009 $202,257,453,037
2010 $255,017,638,456
2011 $297,951,668,675
2012 $314,443,047,642
2013 $323,276,235,524
2014 $338,066,095,097
2015 $301,355,266,965
2016 $301,256,033,870
2017 $319,109,094,160
2018 $358,788,845,713
2019 $365,177,721,022
2020 $337,456,163,961
2021 $373,784,823,673
2022 $407,605,841,348
2023 $399,705,137,434
2024 $421,972,102,254

Malaysia's economy ranked

Year GDP per capita
1960 $240.8
1961 $232.9
1962 $238.8
1963 $291.8
1964 $303
1965 $326
1966 $339
1967 $335
1968 $342
1969 $368
1970 $380
1971 $407
1972 $472
1973 $701
1974 $848
1975 $811
1976 $940
1977 $1,092
1978 $1,327
1979 $1,680
1980 $1,886
1981 $1,866
1982 $1,938
1983 $2,124
1984 $2,300
1985 $2,046
1986 $1,760
1987 $1,977
1988 $2,100
1989 $2,244
1990 $2,469
1991 $2,679
1992 $3,141
1993 $3,462
1994 $3,758
1995 $4,363
1996 $4,837
1997 $4,679
1998 $3,294
1999 $3,528
2000 $4,084
2001 $3,944
2002 $4,184
2003 $4,465
2004 $4,939
2005 $5,556
2006 $6,158
2007 $7,169
2008 $8,372
2009 $7,191
2010 $8,899
2011 $10,217
2012 $10,601
2013 $10,714
2014 $11,013
2015 $9,649
2016 $9,477
2017 $9,863
2018 $10,902
2019 $10,920
2020 $9,958
2021 $10,903
2022 $11,748
2023 $11,379
2024 $11,867

Malaysia's life expectancy calculator

Year Life expectancy, years
1950 48.5
1951 49.2
1952 50.1
1953 51.1
1954 52
1955 52.8
1956 53.7
1957 54.5
1958 55.4
1959 56.3
1960 57.2
1961 58
1962 58.9
1963 59.7
1964 60.4
1965 61.1
1966 61.7
1967 62
1968 62.4
1969 62.9
1970 63.3
1971 63.8
1972 64.2
1973 64.7
1974 65.2
1975 65.7
1976 66.2
1977 66.7
1978 67.2
1979 67.6
1980 68.1
1981 68.5
1982 68.9
1983 69.2
1984 69.6
1985 69.9
1986 70.1
1987 70.4
1988 70.6
1989 70.8
1990 71
1991 71.2
1992 71.5
1993 71.7
1994 71.9
1995 72
1996 72.1
1997 72.3
1998 72.4
1999 72.4
2000 72.7
2001 73.1
2002 73.5
2003 73.7
2004 74
2005 74.4
2006 74.7
2007 75
2008 75.2
2009 75.3
2010 75.4
2011 75.5
2012 75.6
2013 75.5
2014 75.3
2015 75.3
2016 75.4
2017 75.5
2018 75.7
2019 75.9
2020 76.1
2021 73.9
2022 75.4
2023 76.7
2024 76.8
2025 77

Malaysia's population clock and projection

Year Population
1960 7,956,197
1961 8,164,443
1962 8,380,172
1963 8,602,160
1964 8,828,406
1965 9,056,408
1966 9,284,688
1967 9,507,099
1968 9,725,281
1969 9,947,597
1970 10,178,802
1971 10,423,453
1972 10,676,835
1973 10,935,621
1974 11,200,906
1975 11,471,914
1976 11,750,097
1977 12,035,713
1978 12,328,157
1979 12,627,862
1980 12,983,363
1981 13,399,203
1982 13,832,798
1983 14,285,907
1984 14,759,009
1985 15,252,258
1986 15,760,419
1987 16,276,737
1988 16,796,605
1989 17,314,997
1990 17,833,171
1991 18,342,464
1992 18,834,572
1993 19,322,664
1994 19,820,446
1995 20,330,599
1996 20,850,087
1997 21,375,218
1998 21,906,713
1999 22,435,531
2000 22,967,816
2001 23,526,538
2002 24,102,477
2003 24,679,602
2004 25,256,772
2005 25,836,071
2006 26,417,909
2007 26,998,389
2008 27,570,059
2009 28,124,778
2010 28,655,776
2011 29,162,039
2012 29,662,831
2013 30,174,265
2014 30,696,137
2015 31,232,798
2016 31,789,685
2017 32,355,644
2018 32,910,967
2019 33,440,596
2020 33,889,558
2021 34,282,399
2022 34,695,493
2023 35,126,298
2024 35,557,673

Malaysia's birth and fertility rates

Year Fertility rate
1960 6.41
1961 6.37
1962 6.3
1963 6.19
1964 6.03
1965 5.84
1966 5.64
1967 5.43
1968 5.29
1969 5.16
1970 5.04
1971 4.92
1972 4.82
1973 4.73
1974 4.62
1975 4.5
1976 4.4
1977 4.28
1978 4.18
1979 4.09
1980 4.04
1981 4
1982 3.97
1983 3.93
1984 3.89
1985 3.8
1986 3.7
1987 3.57
1988 3.5
1989 3.31
1990 3.3
1991 3.34
1992 3.37
1993 3.36
1994 3.35
1995 3.32
1996 3.3
1997 3.23
1998 3.12
1999 3.07
2000 2.94
2001 2.81
2002 2.66
2003 2.6
2004 2.49
2005 2.39
2006 2.31
2007 2.25
2008 2.26
2009 2.22
2010 2.14
2011 2.15
2012 2.12
2013 2.07
2014 2.06
2015 2.01
2016 1.94
2017 1.89
2018 1.84
2019 1.78
2020 1.68
2021 1.56
2022 1.55
2023 1.55

Malaysia's demographics

Year Median age, years
1960 17.5
1961 17.3
1962 17.1
1963 17
1964 16.9
1965 16.8
1966 16.9
1967 17
1968 17.1
1969 17.3
1970 17.4
1971 17.6
1972 17.9
1973 18.1
1974 18.3
1975 18.6
1976 18.8
1977 19
1978 19.3
1979 19.5
1980 19.7
1981 19.9
1982 20.1
1983 20.4
1984 20.5
1985 20.7
1986 20.9
1987 21
1988 21.1
1989 21.3
1990 21.5
1991 21.7
1992 21.9
1993 22.1
1994 22.3
1995 22.5
1996 22.7
1997 22.9
1998 23.1
1999 23.4
2000 23.5
2001 23.6
2002 23.7
2003 23.9
2004 24
2005 24.2
2006 24.5
2007 24.8
2008 25.1
2009 25.6
2010 26
2011 26.4
2012 26.8
2013 27.1
2014 27.5
2015 27.8
2016 28.1
2017 28.5
2018 28.8
2019 29.2
2020 29.6
2021 30.1
2022 30.6
2023 31.1
2024 31.5

Malaysia vs. World: Interactive Maps

Use the buttons below to toggle between world maps that display different statistics comparing Malaysia with other countries.

GDP per capita

GDP

Life expectancy

Population

Population density

Fertility rate

Median age

Land area

Malaysia: National Statistics

Finance

Malaysia Rank
GNI, Atlas method
$415B
2024
38/194
Government expenditure, % of GDP
23.1%
2025
137/195
Education expenditure, % of GDP
3.51%
2023
121/193
Military expenditure, % of GDP
0.93%
2023
125/163
Armed forces personnel
136,000
2020
45/174
Deficit/surplus, % of GDP
-3.36%
2025
109/188
Unemployment rate
3.93%
2022
128/196
Services, % of GDP
53.6%
2024
114/191
Industry, % of GDP
37.1%
2024
31/194
Economic freedom index
67.1
2025
50/197
Income share by richest 10%
30.9%
2021
50/169
Income share by poorest 10%
2.3%
2021
116/169
Number of billionaires
19
2025
24/78
Percentage of billionaires
0.00008%
2025
36/78
Listed domestic companies
1,031
2024
9/103
Market capitalization of domestic companies
$449B
2024
23/100
Total reserves including gold
$116B
2024
24/177
Personal remittances received
$1.61B
2024
71/190
International tourist arrivals
4,333,000
2020
38/188
International tourism as share of exports
1.63%
2020
151/184
Banked people share
88.7%
2024
41/158

Energy

Malaysia Rank
Energy use, kg of oil equivalent per capita
2,867 kg
2022
35/177
GDP PPP per kg equivalent of energy use
$12
2022
114/173
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
283.3 megatons
2023
21/187
CO2 emissions per capita
8.07 tons
2023
27/187
Fossil fuel energy use share
96%
2022
19/176
Renewable energy use share
7.5%
2021
154/193
Alternative and nuclear energy use share
2.88%
2022
97/147
Net energy imports use share
-0.58%
2022
102/144
Electric power consumption per capita
4,986 kWh
2022
43/147
Renewable electricity output share
17%
2021
124/192
Hydroelectric share
16.6%
2022
89/192
Nuclear share
0%
2021
121/192
Electricity access
100%
2023
57/195

Society

Malaysia Rank
% of world population
0.44%
2024
44/197
Annual migration change
+174,770
2024
9/196
Urban population
79.2%
2024
52/195
Male:Female ratio
50:50
2024
N/A
Average male height
5.55 ft
2025
142/190
Average female height
5.15 ft
2025
154/190
Quality of life index
62.9
2025
61/197
Corruption Perceptions Index
50
2024
68/197
Higher education index
76
2025
45/183
Homicides per 100K people
0.72
2021
171/197
Road traffic mortality per 100K people
22.5
2019
57/197
Visa free countries
170
2025
39/195
Adult literacy rate
95.8%
2022
100/196
English speaking
57.3%
2023
54/197
People using the Internet
98%
2024
12/195

Health

Malaysia Rank
Government health expenditure per capita
$458
2022
92/191
Out-of-pocket health expenditure per capita
$173.5
2022
77/191
Life expectancy
77 years
2025
72/197
Foreign aid share of health expenditure
0.004%
2022
149/178
Physicians per 1,000 people
2.32
2021
77/193
Maternal mortality per 100K births
26
2023
117/193
Mortality rate before reaching 5 years of age, per 1,000 live births
8.1
2023
135/192
Obesity rate
22.4%
2022
97/189
Diabetes prevalence
21.1%
2024
11/195
Air quality index
41
2025
118/197
Tobacco use prevalence
22%
2022
66/164
Pure alcohol consumption per capita
0.74 liters
2020
154/186

Territory

Malaysia Rank
% of world land
0.22%
2025
65/197
Land area per capita
3,568 sq mi
2024
113/197
Agricultural land area
33,093 sq mi
2025
77/194
Forest area
73,219 sq mi
2025
32/196
Roads length
173,898 mi
2022
25/175

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