Statizoid

Population in Malaysia

Malaysia: Population was 35.13 million people in 2023. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2023)
35.13 million people
Change on year
up 1.2%
World rank
44th
of 238 countries
All-time high
35.13 million people
in 2023
All-time low
200,000 people
in 1000
Years of data
241
1000–2023

Population in Malaysia, 1000–2023

010.0M20.0M30.0M40.0M100015112023

Source: HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in people.

Analysis

Malaysia recorded 35.13 million people for population in 2023. That is the highest value across all 241 years on record.

The figure is up 1.2% on the previous year and up 16.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, population in Malaysia peaked at 35.13 million people in 2023 and was at its lowest, 200,000 people, in 1000.

Malaysia ranks 44th of 238 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
1000s 200,000 people 200,000 people 200,000 people 1
1100s 239,200 people 239,200 people 239,200 people 1
1200s 278,400 people 278,400 people 278,400 people 1
1300s 317,600 people 317,600 people 317,600 people 1
1400s 356,800 people 356,800 people 356,800 people 1
1500s 396,000 people 396,000 people 396,000 people 1
1600s 495,000 people 495,000 people 495,000 people 1
1700s 594,000 people 594,000 people 594,000 people 1
1710s 614,600 people 614,600 people 614,600 people 1
1720s 635,200 people 635,200 people 635,200 people 1
1730s 655,800 people 655,800 people 655,800 people 1
1740s 676,400 people 676,400 people 676,400 people 1
1750s 697,000 people 697,000 people 697,000 people 1
1760s 717,600 people 717,600 people 717,600 people 1
1770s 738,200 people 738,200 people 738,200 people 1
1780s 758,800 people 758,800 people 758,800 people 1
1790s 779,400 people 779,400 people 779,400 people 1
1800s 287,000 people 287,000 people 287,000 people 10
1810s 287,119 people 287,000 people 288,186 people 10
1820s 315,797 people 290,582 people 345,129 people 10
1830s 386,874 people 352,258 people 423,428 people 10
1840s 474,645 people 432,175 people 519,506 people 10
1850s 579,559 people 530,268 people 631,494 people 10
1860s 703,949 people 643,873 people 768,940 people 10
1870s 912,479 people 788,448 people 1.05 million people 10
1880s 1.27 million people 1.09 million people 1.46 million people 10
1890s 1.76 million people 1.51 million people 2.03 million people 10
1900s 2.36 million people 2.09 million people 2.62 million people 10
1910s 2.94 million people 2.68 million people 3.21 million people 10
1920s 3.62 million people 3.27 million people 3.98 million people 10
1930s 4.48 million people 4.07 million people 4.91 million people 10
1940s 5.42 million people 5.00 million people 5.85 million people 10
1950s 6.89 million people 6.10 million people 7.76 million people 10
1960s 8.95 million people 7.96 million people 9.95 million people 10
1970s 11.36 million people 10.18 million people 12.63 million people 10
1980s 15.07 million people 12.98 million people 17.32 million people 10
1990s 20.11 million people 17.83 million people 22.44 million people 10
2000s 25.55 million people 22.97 million people 28.12 million people 10
2010s 31.01 million people 28.66 million people 33.44 million people 10
2020s 34.50 million people 33.89 million people 35.13 million people 4

Countries ranked near Malaysia

  1. 41 Morocco 37.71 million people compare
  2. 42 Angola 36.75 million people compare
  3. 43 Uzbekistan 35.65 million people compare
  4. 45 Peru 33.85 million people compare
  5. 46 Ghana 33.79 million people compare
  6. 47 Mozambique 33.64 million people compare

See the full ranking of 239 places →

More population data for Malaysia

All data for Malaysia →

Frequently asked questions

What is population in Malaysia?
Population in Malaysia was 35.13 million people in 2023, according to HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest population recorded in Malaysia?
The highest recorded value was 35.13 million people in 2023.
What is the lowest population recorded in Malaysia?
The lowest recorded value was 200,000 people in 1000.
How does Malaysia rank for population?
Malaysia ranks 44th out of 238 countries with data for 2023.
Is population rising or falling in Malaysia?
Over the last ten years it is up 16.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Malaysia data come from?
The figures come from HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Population. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 241 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Population
Unit
people
Source
HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
239 places, 51,002 data points, 1000–2023
Last refreshed

Population by country, available from 10,000 BCE to 2023, based on data and estimates from different sources.