Malaysia vs Papua New Guinea: Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas
Malaysia
6.00 million people
in 2020
Papua New Guinea
5.27 million people
in 2020
Malaysia rank
54th
Papua New Guinea rank
56th
Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas over time
- Malaysia
- Papua New Guinea
How they compare
Malaysia currently reports 6.00 million people against 5.27 million people in Papua New Guinea, a difference of 731,450 people.
That makes Malaysia's figure about 1.1 times Papua New Guinea's.
Across all 15 years both countries report, Malaysia has been ahead every year.
Malaysia ranks 54th and Papua New Guinea ranks 56th of 236 countries.
Malaysia has averaged higher in every one of the 8 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Malaysia | Papua New Guinea | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 2.69 million people | 1.48 million people | 1.21 million people | Malaysia |
| 1960s | 3.18 million people | 1.84 million people | 1.33 million people | Malaysia |
| 1970s | 3.66 million people | 2.23 million people | 1.43 million people | Malaysia |
| 1980s | 4.36 million people | 2.66 million people | 1.70 million people | Malaysia |
| 1990s | 5.11 million people | 3.22 million people | 1.88 million people | Malaysia |
| 2000s | 5.41 million people | 4.20 million people | 1.21 million people | Malaysia |
| 2010s | 5.73 million people | 4.95 million people | 781,925 people | Malaysia |
| 2020s | 6.00 million people | 5.27 million people | 731,450 people | Malaysia |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas, Malaysia or Papua New Guinea?
- Malaysia, at 6.00 million people against 5.27 million people in Papua New Guinea as of 2020.
- What is the difference in number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas between Malaysia and Papua New Guinea?
- 731,450 people, with Malaysia ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Malaysia and Papua New Guinea?
- 15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
- How do Malaysia and Papua New Guinea rank globally for number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas?
- Malaysia ranks 54th and Papua New Guinea ranks 56th of 236 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Estimated number of people living in rural areas. Rural areas are identified using satellite imagery and population data, applying the same definitions across countries.