Japan vs Malaysia: Total number of international immigrants

Japan
3.41 million immigrants
in 2024
Malaysia
3.81 million immigrants
in 2024
Japan rank
19th
Malaysia rank
18th

Total number of international immigrants over time

  • Japan
  • Malaysia
1.0M2.0M3.0M4.0M199020072024

How they compare

Malaysia currently reports 3.81 million immigrants against 3.41 million immigrants in Japan, a difference of 396,980 immigrants.

That makes Malaysia's figure about 1.1 times Japan's.

The two have swapped places 1 time across 8 shared years of data; in 1990 it was Japan ahead.

Japan ranks 19th and Malaysia ranks 18th of 232 countries.

Across the 4 decades both report, Japan averaged higher in 1 and Malaysia in 3.

Head to head by decade

Decade Japan Malaysia Difference Ahead
1990s 1.19 million immigrants 1.17 million immigrants 20,585 immigrants Japan
2000s 1.81 million immigrants 1.89 million immigrants 79,865 immigrants Malaysia
2010s 2.37 million immigrants 3.30 million immigrants 930,555 immigrants Malaysia
2020s 3.35 million immigrants 3.76 million immigrants 413,320 immigrants Malaysia

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher total number of international immigrants, Japan or Malaysia?
Malaysia, at 3.81 million immigrants against 3.41 million immigrants in Japan as of 2024.
What is the difference in total number of international immigrants between Japan and Malaysia?
396,980 immigrants, with Malaysia ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Japan and Malaysia?
8 years are reported by both, from 1990 to 2024.
How do Japan and Malaysia rank globally for total number of international immigrants?
Japan ranks 19th and Malaysia ranks 18th of 232 countries.
Where does this data come from?
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2024) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as Total number of international immigrants. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Total number of international immigrants
Unit
immigrants
Source
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2024) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
232 places, 1,856 data points, 1990–2024
Last refreshed

People living in a given country who were born in another country.