Malaysia

AsiaCapital city: Kuala LumpurCapital metro: Kuala LumpurPrime Minister: Anwar IbrahimMonarch (Yang di-Pertuan Agong): πŸ‘‘ Sultan Ibrahim of Johor
2026 population
34.4M
Rank #46 globally
Area
331k kmΒ² (128k sq mi)
Metros tracked
15
63% of population in metros
Composite score
99.5
Rank #25 globally

population: National quarterly estimate (31 Mar 2026) Β· indicators as of 2026-09-05 Β· 15 metros tracked

πŸ—ΊοΈ Geography15 metros

Malaysia metro footprint, shaded by composite tier.

Loading map…
15 polygons

Hover for rank, click to open the metro page. Boundaries derived from Overture Maps administrative divisions; metros without source coverage are omitted.

πŸ™οΈ 15 tracked metros
15 metros
πŸ—‚οΈ Administrative subdivisions

16 entries listed under Malaysia across 2 types. Click any to see its metros and footprint.

16 total

Federal Territories (3)

πŸ“‹ At a glance
Official language
Malay
Government
Federation
Legislature
Parliament of Malaysia
Demonym
Malaysian
Time zone
UTC+08:00
Driving side
Left
Calling code
+60
Internet TLD
.my
ISO 3166
MY
Established
1963
Highest point
Mount Kota Kinabalu (4,095 m (13,435 ft))
National anthem
Negaraku

Facts via Wikidata.

πŸ“° In the news2 stories
Every story in the latest digest β†’
πŸ’Ή Economy and developmentUpper middle income
Human Dev. Index
#66 / 191
0.819
UNDP Β· 2023
GDP
#34 / 193
$472.2B
World Bank Β· 2025
GDP per capita
#73 / 193
$13.1k
World Bank Β· 2025
GDP/capita (PPP)
#54 / 190
$41.5k
World Bank Β· 2025
GNI/capita (Atlas)
#73 / 192
$12.4k
World Bank Β· 2025
Life expectancy
#68 / 194
76.8 yrs
World Bank Β· 2024
Median age
30.1 yrs
UN WPP Β· 2023
Urban population
#52 / 194
77%
World Bank Β· 2025
Pop. growth
1.2%
World Bank Β· 2025
Pop. density
#81 / 193
107/kmΒ²
World Bank Β· 2023
Foreign-born
#59 / 193
10.7%
World Bank Β· 2024
Rule of law
#67 / 175
0.70
V-Dem Β· 2025
Gini index
#127 / 166
40.7
World Bank Β· 2021
Internet users
#12 / 193
98%
World Bank Β· 2024
Inflation
#44 / 185
1.4%
World Bank Β· 2025
COβ‚‚ per capita
#168 / 192
8.2 t
Global Carbon Budget Β· 2024
Renewable electricity
#119 / 186
21%
Ember Β· 2025

Ranks are among sovereign countries with data; β˜… marks a top-5% finish. Sources: World Bank Open Data and Our World in Data (UNDP, UN WPP, V-Dem, Global Carbon Budget, Ember, Energy Institute; CC BY 4.0). Each card credits its originating body. Renewable share is of electricity generation, not of primary energy. Each figure is the most recent year available.

Alliances & Organisations7 full memberships

Political & Economic

Energy

Full memberDashed border = Candidate / ApplicantItalic = Dialogue / Observer

πŸ›οΈ Leadership History11 leaders Β· click to expand

marks a leader associated with atrocities or defiance of law, systemic subversion of democratic institutions, or a criminal conviction. Convictions arising from political persecution, and annulled convictions, are excluded. denotes a monarch. These are editorial designations, applied per entry rather than derived automatically.

2020s

πŸ‘‘ Sultan Ibrahim of Johor✦ Current

2024–Present

Monarch (Yang di-Pertuan Agong)

Tenure: 2024–present

Anwar Ibrahim✦ Current

2022–Present

Prime Minister

Tenure: 2022–presentPakatan Harapan (PKR)

Ismail Sabri Yaakob

2021–2022

Prime Minister

Tenure: 2021–2022Barisan Nasional (UMNO)

Muhyiddin Yassin

2020–2021

Prime Minister

Tenure: 2020–2021Perikatan Nasional (PPBM)

2010s–20s

Mahathir Mohamad

2018–2020

Prime Minister

Tenure: 2018–2020Pakatan Harapan (PPBM)

2010s

⚠️ Najib Razak

2009–2018

Prime Minister

Tenure: 2009–2018Barisan Nasional (UMNO)

2000s

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

2003–2009

Prime Minister

Tenure: 2003–2009Barisan Nasional (UMNO)

1980s–2000s

Mahathir Mohamad

1981–2003

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1981–2003Barisan Nasional (UMNO)

1970s–80s

Hussein Onn

1976–1981

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1976–1981Barisan Nasional (UMNO)

1970s

Abdul Razak Hussein

1970–1976

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1970–1976Alliance / Barisan Nasional (UMNO)

1950s–60s

Tunku Abdul Rahman

1957–1970

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1957–1970Alliance (UMNO)
πŸ“ˆ Power over timeThe Power Atlas β†’
Today
Regional#24 Β· 0.8%
3%5%8%10%2000
Power (headline share)Latent (material mass)Recognised (standing)
Malaysia Β· share of world power, 1957–2026

The powerline is the headline share of world power, running from the state’s first ranked year (benchmark estimates with wide error bars before 1816). Latent power is material mass a state could mobilise (population, manpower, heavy industry). Recognised power is what the system actually treats it as (military spending, productive economy, reach, and status such as a Security Council seat or nuclear arsenal). When latent runs above recognised, a power is rising or under-rated; when recognised runs higher, it is punching above its weight or coasting on prestige. Material sub-indices run 1816 through 2016.

βš”οΈ Conflicts since 19451 interstate war Β· click to expand
Combat deaths: 874+

Bold = principal belligerent. Source: Wikipedia, β€œList of interstate wars since 1945.”

πŸ‘₯ Population over time
Population 2023
35.1m
#44 in the world
Since 1800
122Γ—
from 287k
Peak
2023
at its largest now
Share of world
0.43%
0.03% in 1800
9.1m18.2m27.3m36.4m18001850190019502000
Malaysia Β· people, 1800–2023 Β· dashed to 2026 is projected

Our World in Data population (CC BY): UN WPP 2024 from 1950, Gapminder v7 1800-1949, HYDE 3.3 earlier; today's borders. Figures above are as of 2023, the last year that is estimated rather than forecast. The dashed tail to 2026 is a UN WPP medium-variant projection. It is drawn because the line should reach the present, and drawn differently because it has not happened yet: no rank, peak or share on this page uses it. Before 1950 the series is reconstruction rather than contemporaneous statistics, which is worth knowing when a country’s peak sits back there. The current population shown elsewhere on this page comes from the workbook and is unchanged by this. Note that people and share of world can move in opposite directions. A country can grow steadily and still become a smaller part of humanity, which is what happened to almost every rich country after 1960.

πŸ‘₯ To 2100

The UN’s probabilistic projection for Malaysia: the median with its 80% and 95% bands, the UN’s own high, low and zero-migration scenarios beside it. Not this site’s model; the site reads it and says what it implies.

Peak on the median
2072
46.4m on the UN median
2050
44.3m
95% band 36.0m to 53.4m
2100
44.0m
95% band 15.7m to 112m
2100 against 2025
1.22Γ—
median falling from 2073
Deaths outnumber births
from 2060
on the UN medium path; migration decides the rest
29.4m58.8m88.3m118m1950197520002025205020752100

Tap or drag across the chart to read any year: the estimate to 2023, then the UN median, its bands and the scenarios.

estimateUN median80% and 95% bandshigh and low fertilityzero migration

What drives it

Births, deaths and net migration on the UN medium path, with fertility, life expectancy and median age, every decade from 1950.

1950
273k born Β· 124k died Β· +7k net migration
TFR 6.43 Β· life expectancy 48.5 Β· median age 18.8
1960
341k born Β· 90k died Β· -47k net migration
TFR 6.41 Β· life expectancy 57.2 Β· median age 16.5
1970
343k born Β· 74k died Β· -32k net migration
TFR 5.04 Β· life expectancy 63.3 Β· median age 16.3
1980
399k born Β· 72k died Β· +81k net migration
TFR 4.04 Β· life expectancy 68.1 Β· median age 18.7
1990
468k born Β· 83k died Β· +135k net migration
TFR 3.30 Β· life expectancy 71.0 Β· median age 20.4
2000
519k born Β· 102k died Β· +125k net migration
TFR 2.94 Β· life expectancy 72.7 Β· median age 22.5
2010
484k born Β· 124k died Β· +157k net migration
TFR 2.14 Β· life expectancy 75.4 Β· median age 25.0
2020
454k born Β· 171k died Β· +102k net migration
TFR 1.68 Β· life expectancy 76.1 Β· median age 28.6
Show all 16 decades
2030
449k born Β· 221k died Β· +161k net migration
TFR 1.51 Β· life expectancy 77.8 Β· median age 33.0
2040
467k born Β· 284k died Β· +140k net migration
TFR 1.51 Β· life expectancy 79.5 Β· median age 36.8
2050
443k born Β· 350k died Β· +129k net migration
TFR 1.53 Β· life expectancy 81.1 Β· median age 40.1
2060
416k born Β· 419k died Β· +104k net migration
TFR 1.53 Β· life expectancy 82.7 Β· median age 43.3
2070
421k born Β· 493k died Β· +87k net migration
TFR 1.55 Β· life expectancy 84.1 Β· median age 45.1
2080
408k born Β· 548k died Β· +65k net migration
TFR 1.56 Β· life expectancy 85.5 Β· median age 45.9
2090
384k born Β· 565k died Β· +70k net migration
TFR 1.56 Β· life expectancy 86.7 Β· median age 46.7
2100
378k born Β· 556k died Β· +55k net migration
TFR 1.56 Β· life expectancy 87.9 Β· median age 47.4

Every country to 2100 β†’

Source: United Nations, DESA, Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 IGO. Estimates to 2023; projections 2024 to 2100, medium variant and probabilistic intervals. The UN revises every two years; this is the WPP 2024 revision.

πŸ’° Billionaires25 Β· $77.6B combined Β· click to expand
DiversifiedPalm oil, shipping, property
DiversifiedBanking, property
ManufacturingAluminum
Fashion & RetailRetailing
Real EstatePalm oil, property
Real EstateProperty, healthcare
Real EstatePalm oil, property
Construction & EngineeringEngineering, automotive
Metals & MiningInvestments
Finance & InvestmentsBanking
Finance & InvestmentsBanking
Finance & InvestmentsFinance
Show all 25 rows
Finance & InvestmentsBanking
DiversifiedPalm oil, property
Fashion & RetailDollar store
Gambling & CasinosCasinos
Metals & Miningaluminum
Fashion & RetailRetail
ServiceFuneral services
Finance & InvestmentsProperty, construction, financial services
Finance & InvestmentsInvestments
Finance & InvestmentsBanking
ManufacturingFactory automation equipment
ManufacturingRubber gloves
Real EstateProperty, retail, financial services

Source: Forbes real-time billionaires (via the rtb-api project). Net worth as of the latest monthly snapshot.

πŸ† National Teams

Malaysia on the international stage. Click a card for the full record.