Asia
Overview
Demography
Capital: Kuala Lumpur
Currency: Malaysian ringgit (MYR)
Population: 35.56M
Population density: 106.91/km2
Conventions
Numbering system
Arabic numerals with dot as decimal separator
Date format: dd/mm/yyyy
Time: 24h time system
Country code: 0060
Economy
GDP: 422.23 billion USD (2024)
GDP per capita: 11,874.43 USD (2024)
Exports: 379 billion USD (2024)
Imports: 304 billion USD (2024)
T-index
0.45%
T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales.
Statistics
Internet users: 98.0% penetration, 35.4 million
Unemployment rate: 3.83% (2024)
Urbanisation: 76.92% (2024)
Global Innovation Index: 34th out of 139 countries worldwide
Language data sources: Worlddata / EF; Demography data sources: World Bank / Worlddata / IBAN; Economy data sources: World Bank / OEC / T-index; Statistics data sources: DataReportal / World Bank / WIPO
If you need other information, below you can find a selection of economic/social/cultural data
Economy
GDP
$422.23 billion (2024)
Trade – Economic Complexity Index
Ranked 24th out of 130 countries
The Economic Complexity Index (ECI) measures the sophistication and diversity of a country’s exports.
Product Imports
$304 billion (2024)
Service Imports
$56.37 billion (2024)
Market Growth Imports
8.25% of annual growth
Financial inclusion factors
• 87.2% have an account with a financial institution
• 13.2% have a credit card
• 56.8% make digital payment
Active E-commerce
37,576 active stores
GDP Growth (annual %)
5.11%
GDP per Capita
$11,874.43 (2024)
Product Exports
$379 billion (2024)
Service Exports
$53.40 billion (2024)
Market Growth Exports
8.30% of annual growth
Main online stores
AliExpress, Amazon, Shopee, Lazada, TikTok Shop Malaysia, PG Mall, Mudah.my, Zalora, Temu, iHerb
Global Startup Ecosystem Index
Malaysia ranked 41st out of 100 countries, 18.9% of annual ecosystem growth
The Global Startup Ecosystem Index ranks countries by the strength of their startup ecosystems. It evaluates factors such as startup activity, ecosystem quality, and the business environment.
Economy data sources: World Bank / OEC / T-index / Joy of Creating / BrandNav
Trade balance of goods from 2013 to 2024
Source: Statista
Perception of products made in selected countries in 2017
Source: Statista
Which attributes do you associate with products made in Malaysia?
Source: Statista
Foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP)
Source: WorldBank
T-index
Reach most of the online purchasing power
T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales. It estimates the market share of each country in relation to global e-commerce.
Try it nowMedia
Media language Malay
The press
The Star, New Straits Times, Berita Harian, Utusan Malaysia, Harian Metro, Sinar Harian, Kosmo!, Malay Mail, The Sun Daily, Free Malaysia Today, The Edge Malaysia, MalaysiaKini
News Agency
Bernama, MalaysiaKini, Free Malaysia Today, The Malaysian Insight, The Vibes, Astro Awani News
Magazines
Going Places, Tatler Malaysia, Vogue Singapore Malaysia Edition, Esquire Malaysia, Harper’s Bazaar Malaysia, Marie Claire Malaysia
Television
TV3, RTM TV1, RTM TV2, TV Okey, Bernama TV, Astro Awani
Radio
Media data source: GlobalMediaList
Internet Data
Internet users
98.0% penetration, 35.4 million
Share of web traffic by device
53.51% mobile phones, 44.10% computers (laptops and desktops), 2.32% tablet devices and 0.07% other devices
Median speed of mobile Internet connection
143.56 Mbps (Download)
22.76 Mbps (Upload)
Median speed of fixed Internet connection
154.03 Mbps (Download)
61.26 Mbps (Upload)
Mobile connection as a percentage of total population: 122%
Most popular web search engines
Google (93.07%), Bing (3.91%), Yahoo! (1.47%), Yandex (1.19%), DuckDuckGo (0.23%), Baidu (0.04%), Ecosia (0.03%), Others (0.06%)
Share of AI web traffic referrals
ChatGPT (86.99%), Perplexity (5.75%), Microsoft Copilot (4.43%), Google Gemini (2.08%), DeepSeek (0.38%), Claude (0.37%)
Most used social media
WhatsApp (26.5%), TikTok (25.4%), Facebook (15.9%), Instagram (14.6%), Xiaohongshu (5.1%), X (2.8%), Telegram (1.4%), Messenger (1.2%), Pinterest (1.0%), WeChat (0.9%), Reddit (0.7%), Threads (0.7%), LinkedIn (0.5%), Discord (0.4%), Snapchat (0.4%)
Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G): 99.3%
Internet data sources: DataReportal / Statcounter
Social statistics
Life expectancy
76.66 yrs (2023)
Current health expenditure
3.91% of GDP
Current education expenditure
94.41% of total expenditure in public institutions
CO2 emissions
8.57 metric tons per capita
Corruption Perceptions Index
Malaysia scored 52 out of 100, ranking 54th out of 182 countries.
The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ranks countries by perceived levels of public sector corruption. It is based on expert assessments and business surveys, with higher scores indicating lower perceived corruption.
Religion
Muslim (official) (63.5%), Buddhist (18.7%), Christian (9.1%), Hindu (6.1%), Other (1%), Other (Confucianism, Taoism, Other traditional Chinese religions) (0.9%), None/Unspecified (0.8%)
Ethnicity
Bumiputera (62.5%), Chinese (20.6%), non-citizens (9.8%), Indian (6.2%), Other (0.9%)
World Happiness Index
Malaysia ranked 71st out of 147 countries, with a score of 6.005.
The World Happiness Index ranks countries by people’s self-reported life satisfaction. It also considers factors like income, health, social support, freedom, and trust.
Social statistics sources: World Bank / Transparency International / Worldometer / World Population Review / World Happiness Report
Research & Development
R&D Expenditure
0.95% of GDP
World Competitiveness Ranking
Malaysia ranked 15th out of 70 countries, with a score of 81.91
The World Competitiveness Ranking measures how well countries create an environment that supports business performance and long-term prosperity. It evaluates factors such as economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure.
World Digital Competitiveness Ranking
Malaysia ranked 34th out of 69 countries, with a score of 71.07
The World Digital Competitiveness Ranking measures how well countries adopt and develop digital technologies to drive economic transformation. It assesses factors such as knowledge, technology, and future readiness.
Technology – Economic Complexity Index
Ranked 38th out of 97 countries
Research – Economic Complexity Index
Ranked 84th out of 138 countries
The Economic Complexity Index (ECI) measures the sophistication and diversity of a country’s exports.
Global Innovation Index
Ranked 8th out of 17 South East Asian and Oceanian countries, and 34th out of 139 countries worldwide.
The Global Innovation Index captures the innovation ecosystem performance of economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.
Research & Development sources: World Bank / OEC / WIPO / IMD
Country Curiosities
From 1963 to 1965, Singapore was one of the fourteen states that formed Malaysia. However, on August 9, 1965, Singapore was expelled following riots fueled by economic and political tensions between various cultural groups. This pivotal moment led Singapore to emerge as an independent city-state. Interestingly, one theory suggests that the ‘si’ in Malaysia alludes to Singapore, although the country’s name has remained unchanged since the separation.
Additionally…
- Malaysia stands at the forefront of technological innovation in Southeast Asia, with a burgeoning ecosystem for AI.
- The majority of the population is Muslim: the percentage of the Muslim population in Malaysia is around 61.3% of the total population.
- Before adopting the name Malaysia, the country behind the cartoon Upin & Ipin was originally called Aurea Chersonesus, meaning “golden peninsula.“
- With approximately 66,000 kilometers of toll roads, Malaysia has the longest toll road network globally, surpassing the Earth’s circumference.
- Home to the iconic Petronas Towers, which stand at 451.9 meters, Malaysia housed the world’s tallest buildings from 1998 to 2004.
- Ethnic Malays constitute only half of Malaysia’s over 31 million population, with the rest including Chinese, Indians, and various indigenous groups.
- Malaysia is the third-largest natural rubber producer in the world and the world’s largest supplier of rubber gloves.
- In some Malaysian buildings, you might see a “3A” floor instead of the fourth floor, as the number four sounds like “death” in Chinese.
