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Country profile

Malaysia

At a glance

  • Malaysia has a population of about 36M; its total GDP of $472.2B ranks #33 of 168 countries with data.
  • Its surface area of 339,752 km² is about 1.8× the world median of 190,157 km².
  • CO₂ emissions (total) stands out most against the median: 296 Mt — rank #19 of 165 countries with data.

Malaysia: all 46 metrics vs the world median

Metric Value Rank vs median
Population & land
Population 36M (2025) #45 / 169 median 11.5M · 3.1×
Population growth 1.2% (2025) #82 / 169 median 1.1% · 1.1×
Urban population share 77.4% (2025) #45 / 169 median 63.8% · 1.2×
Population aged 65+ 8.0% (2025) #82 / 169 median 7.4% · 1.1×
Fertility rate 1.5 (2024) #118 / 169 median 2.1 · 74%
Birth rate 12.4‰ (2024) #103 / 169 median 16.0‰ · 77%
Death rate 5.3‰ (2024) #145 / 169 median 7.1‰ · 74%
Net migration 166.6K (2025) #7 / 169 N/A
Surface area 339,752 km² #67 / 176 median 190,157 km² · 1.8×
Population density derived 106/km² (2025) #61 / 169 median 73.2/km² · 1.4×
Economy
GDP (total) $472.2B (2025) #33 / 168 median $80.7B · 5.9×
GDP per capita $13,125 (2025) #62 / 168 median $6,834 · 1.9×
GNI per capita $12,380 (2025) #62 / 168 median $6,350 · 1.9×
GDP growth (annual) 5.2% (2025) #39 / 168 median 3.1% · 1.7×
Inflation rate 1.4% (2025) #127 / 162 median 3.3% · 42%
Unemployment rate 3.8% (2025) #111 / 168 median 5.1% · 73%
Gini index 40.7 (2021) #38 / 153 median 35.3 · 1.2×
Poverty rate ($2.15/day) 0.0% (2021) #148 / 153 N/A
Trade & industry
Exports share of GDP 71.0% (2025) #20 / 163 median 35.0% · 2.0×
Imports share of GDP 65.4% (2025) #30 / 163 median 40.2% · 1.6×
Agriculture share of GDP 8.2% (2025) #77 / 168 median 7.2% · 1.1×
Manufacturing share of GDP 22.1% (2025) #12 / 165 median 11.2% · 2.0×
International tourist arrivals 4.3M (2020) #37 / 162 median 1.1M · 3.8×
Tourism receipts $3.4B (2020) #40 / 165 median $705M · 4.8×
Health & education
Life expectancy 76.8 years (2024) #60 / 169 median 73.8 years · 1.0×
Infant mortality 7.0‰ (2024) #115 / 166 median 13.1‰ · 54%
Under-five mortality 8.3‰ (2024) #114 / 166 median 15.8‰ · 53%
DPT immunization 93.0% (2024) #65 / 166 median 90.5% · 1.0×
Hospital beds 2.0 per 1,000 (2023) #86 / 167 median 2.0 per 1,000 · 97%
Health spending share of GDP 4.0% (2023) #130 / 165 median 6.5% · 61%
Secondary school enrollment 80.3% (2024) #108 / 167 median 90.5% · 89%
Education spending share of GDP 3.5% (2023) #106 / 165 median 4.1% · 85%
Society & living
Human Development Index 0.819 (2023) #57 / 165 median 0.754 · 1.1×
Internet users 98.0% (2024) #9 / 169 median 81.5% · 1.2×
Mobile subscriptions 139.7 per 100 (2024) #33 / 169 median 116.4 per 100 · 1.2×
Fixed broadband 13.5 per 100 (2024) #78 / 168 median 12.1 per 100 · 1.1×
Electricity access 100.0% (2024) #46 / 169 median 99.9% · 1.0×
Environment & security
CO₂ emissions per capita 8.3 t (2024) #22 / 165 median 2.6 t · 3.1×
CO₂ emissions (total) derived 296 Mt (2024) #19 / 165 median 21.3 Mt · 14×
Renewable electricity share 17.0% (2021) #119 / 169 median 34.1% · 50%
Renewable energy consumption 7.5% (2021) #143 / 169 median 26.9% · 28%
Forest area 57.7% (2023) #24 / 169 median 32.4% · 1.8×
Agricultural land 26.1% (2023) #119 / 169 median 41.7% · 63%
Arable land 2.4% (2023) #137 / 168 median 11.0% · 22%
PM2.5 exposure 15.9 µg/m³ (2023) #108 / 168 median 19.8 µg/m³ · 80%
Military spending 1.0% (2024) #117 / 157 median 1.8% · 55%

Ranks are value-descending and count only the countries that have data for that metric (#1 = highest value); N/A rows occupy no rank.

The median is the unweighted middle value across the countries with data (gold tick) — not a world average. Bars grow with the value: reaching the tick means matching the median, and a full bar means twice the median or more. The median value and this country's multiple are noted under each bar.

Malaysia's true-shape outline

Malaysia's border outline from Natural Earth 1:110m boundaries — total surface area 339,752 km².

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Data & method

Indicators: World Bank Open Data, 43 indicators — CC BY 4.0 © World Bank — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/; Human Development Index — CC BY 3.0 IGO © United Nations Development Programme — https://hdr.undp.org/terms-use

Boundaries: Natural Earth 1:110m (public domain); surface areas are computed with an equal-area spherical formula (Chamberlin–Duquette).

Reference facts (capital, languages, currencies, subregion): mledoze/countries (ODbL).