World Factbook
Malaysia
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Literacy
male
96.8% (2022 est.)
female
94.7% (2022 est.)
total population
95.8% (2022 est.)
Languages
note
note: Malaysia has 134 languages (112 indigenous and 22 non-indigenous); in East Malaysia, there are several indigenous languages, and the most widely spoken are Iban and Kadazan
Languages
Bahasa Malaysia (official), English, Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai
major-language sample(s)
Buku Fakta Dunia, sumber yang diperlukan untuk maklumat asas. (Bahasa Malaysia) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Religions
Muslim (official) 63.5%, Buddhist 18.7%, Christian 9.1%, Hindu 6.1%, other (Confucianism, Taoism, other traditional Chinese religions) 0.9%, none/unspecified 1.8% (2020 est.)
Sex ratio
at birth
1.07 male(s)/female
0-14 years
1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years
1.06 male(s)/female
total population
1.05 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
65 years and over
0.94 male(s)/female
Birth rate
14.05 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Death rate
5.8 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Median age
male
31.7 years
total
32.2 years (2025 est.)
female
31.9 years
Population
male
17,833,074
total
34,905,275 (2025 est.)
female
17,072,201
Nationality
noun
Malaysian(s)
adjective
Malaysian
Tobacco use
male
41.8% (2025 est.)
total
21.5% (2025 est.)
female
0.6% (2025 est.)
Urbanization
urban population
78.7% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization
1.87% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years
22.2% (male 3,947,914/female 3,730,319)
15-64 years
69.4% (male 12,308,938/female 11,666,947)
65 years and over
8.4% (2024 est.) (male 1,409,360/female 1,501,332)
Ethnic groups
Bumiputera 63.8% (Malay 52.8% and indigenous peoples, including Orang Asli, Dayak, Anak Negeri, 11%), Chinese 20.6%, Indian 6%, other 0.6%, non-citizens 9% (2023 est.)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio
44.3 (2025 est.)
youth dependency ratio
31.7 (2025 est.)
potential support ratio
7.9 (2025 est.)
elderly dependency ratio
12.6 (2025 est.)
Physician density
2.34 physicians/1,000 population (2023)
Health expenditure
Health expenditure (as % of GDP)
4.4% of GDP (2021)
Health expenditure (as % of national budget)
8% of national budget (2022 est.)
Net migration rate
1.43 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Hospital bed density
2 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate
1.73 children born/woman (2025 est.)
Drinking water source
improved: rural
rural: 90.1% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 97.2% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 99.1% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 9.9% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 2.8% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 0.9% of population (2022 est.)
Education expenditure
Education expenditure (% GDP)
3.5% of GDP (2023 est.)
Education expenditure (% national budget)
14.1% national budget (2023 est.)
Infant mortality rate
male
6.8 deaths/1,000 live births
total
6.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)
female
6 deaths/1,000 live births
Population growth rate
0.97% (2025 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
0.83 (2025 est.)
Population distribution
a highly uneven distribution, with over 80% of the population residing on the Malay Peninsula
Life expectancy at birth
male
75 years
female
78.4 years
total population
76.6 years (2024 est.)
Maternal mortality ratio
26 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Sanitation facility access
improved: rural
rural: 99.9% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 100% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 100% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 0.1% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 0% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 0% of population (2022 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
beer
0.48 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine
0.04 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total
0.64 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits
0.11 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols
0.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Major urban areas - population
8.622 million KUALA LUMPUR (capital), 1.086 million Johor Bahru, 857,000 Ipoh (2023)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
15.6% (2016)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
15.3% (2022 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
male
11 years (2023 est.)
total
12 years (2023 est.)
female
12 years (2023 est.)