Number of children, working-age adults, and older people in Malaysia

Malaysia: Number of children, working-age adults, and older people was 2.62 million people in 2023. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2023)
2.62 million people
Change on year
up 5.0%
World rank
44th
of 236 countries
All-time high
2.62 million people
in 2023
All-time low
224,146 people
in 1960
Years of data
74
1950–2023

Number of children, working-age adults, and older people in Malaysia, 1950–2023

0500.0k1.0M1.5M2.0M2.5M195019862023

Source: UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in people.

Analysis

Malaysia recorded 2.62 million people for number of children, working-age adults, and older people in 2023. That is the highest value across all 74 years on record.

The figure is up 5.0% on the previous year and up 61.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, number of children, working-age adults, and older people in Malaysia peaked at 2.62 million people in 2023 and was at its lowest, 224,146 people, in 1960.

Malaysia ranks 44th of 236 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1950s 256,917 people 225,362 people 300,505 people 10
1960s 244,867 people 224,146 people 271,362 people 10
1970s 354,568 people 281,683 people 424,744 people 10
1980s 528,446 people 441,219 people 617,307 people 10
1990s 741,541 people 636,089 people 859,576 people 10
2000s 1.10 million people 890,145 people 1.35 million people 10
2010s 1.76 million people 1.42 million people 2.17 million people 10
2020s 2.44 million people 2.28 million people 2.62 million people 4

Countries ranked near Malaysia

  1. 41 Sri Lanka 2.70 million people compare
  2. 42 Chile 2.69 million people compare
  3. 43 Venezuela 2.64 million people compare
  4. 45 Portugal 2.51 million people compare
  5. 46 Greece 2.40 million people compare
  6. 47 Belgium 2.36 million people compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More population data for Malaysia

All data for Malaysia →

Frequently asked questions

What is number of children, working-age adults, and older people in Malaysia?
Number of children, working-age adults, and older people in Malaysia was 2.62 million people in 2023, according to UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest number of children, working-age adults, and older people recorded in Malaysia?
The highest recorded value was 2.62 million people in 2023.
What is the lowest number of children, working-age adults, and older people recorded in Malaysia?
The lowest recorded value was 224,146 people in 1960.
How does Malaysia rank for number of children, working-age adults, and older people?
Malaysia ranks 44th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is number of children, working-age adults, and older people rising or falling in Malaysia?
Over the last ten years it is up 61.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Malaysia data come from?
The figures come from UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of children, working-age adults, and older people. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 74 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Number of children, working-age adults, and older people
Unit
people
Source
UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
236 places, 17,464 data points, 1950–2023
Last refreshed

The total population, measured on 1 July of the year shown. This only includes people aged 65+.