Browse a full set of economic indicators

Malaysia

Includes Malaysia real Gross Domestic Product growth rate, with latest forecasts and historical data, GDP per capita, GDP composition and breakdown by sector.

Browse additional economic indicators and data sets, selected by Global Finance editors, to learn more about Malaysia economic outlook, debt to GDP ratio, international trade performance and population trends. Rankings of Malaysia best banks and safest banks are also available.

Basic Information

Government Type: Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy

Capital City: Kuala Lumpur; note – nearby Putrajaya is referred to as a federal government administrative center but not the capital; Parliament meets in Kuala Lumpur

GDP & Economic Information

Macroeconomy & Sovereign Data

Central Bank Central Bank of Malaysia

Currency Ringgits (MYR)

International Reserves USD 101.4 billion (2018)

International Monetary Fund (IMF), data retrieved October 2019
Gross Domestic Product – GDP USD 354.3 billion (2018, estimate)
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) Intl$ 999.4 billion (2018, estimate)

GDP Data

Real GDP growth 2007: 6.3%
2008: 4.8%
2009: -1.5%
2010: 7.5%
2011: 5.3%
2012: 5.5%
2013: 4.7%
2014: 6.0%
2015: 5.1%
2016: 4.2%
2017: 5.9%
2018*: 4.7%
*Estimate
GDP per capita – current prices USD 10,941.8 (2018, estimate)
GDP per capita – PPP Intl$ 30,859.9 (2018, estimate)
GDP (PPP) – share of world total 1980: 0.35%
1990: 0.45%
2000: 0.60%
2010: 0.65%
2019*: 0.75%
*Estimate
GDP – composition by sector agriculture: 7.7%
industry: 39%
services: 52%
(2016 estimate)
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D; (% of GDP) N/A
Inflation 2015: 2.1%
2016: 2.1%
2017: 3.8%
2018*: 1%
2019*: 1%
*Estimate

Inflation & Debt

Inflation 2015: 2.1%
2016: 2.1%
2017: 3.8%
2018*: 1%
2019*: 1%
*Estimate
Government Bond Ratings Standard & Poor’s: A-

Moody’s: A3

Standard & Poor’s / Moody’s
Unemployment rate
2015: 3.2%
2016: 3.5%
2017: 3.4%
2018*: 3.3%
2019*: 3.4%
*Estimate
Household saving rates N/A
Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP)
2015: 57%
2016: 55.8%
2017: 54.4%
2018*: 55.6%
2019*: 56.3%
*Estimate
Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP) 2015: -2.5%
2016: -2.6%
2017: -2.4%
2018*: -3.6%
2019*: -3%
*Estimate
Market value of publicly traded shares 2016: USD 359.8 billion
2017: USD 455.8 billion
2018: USD 398.0 billion
Largest Companies Maybank, Tenaga Nasional, Public Bank, CIMB Group Holdings, Petronas Chemicals, RHB Bank, Hong Leong Financial, Axiata Group, AmBank Group

Import/Export

Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services) 69.7% (2018)
Shares in world total merchandising export 1.27% (2018)
Shares in world total commercial services export 0.69% (2018)
Total exports USD 245.6 billion (2018 estimate)
Export commodities
Semiconductors and electronic equipment, palm oil, petroleum and liquefied natural gas, wood and wood products, palm oil, rubber, textiles, chemicals, solar panels
Total imports USD 218.5 billion (2018 estimate)
Import commodities Electronics, machinery, petroleum products, plastics, vehicles, iron and steel products, chemicals
Exports – major partners Singapore 15.1%, China 12.6%, US 9.4%, Japan 8.2%, Thailand 5.7%, Hong Kong 4.5%(2017)
Imports – major partners China 19.9%, Singapore 10.8%, US 8.4%, Japan 7.6%, Thailand 5.8%, South Korea 4.5%, Indonesia 4.4% (2017)

Competitiveness & Trade

Current account balance USD 7.5 billion (2018 estimate)
Current account balance by percentage of GDP 2.1 % (2018 estimate)
FDI inflows 2016: USD 11,336 million
2017: USD 9,399 million
2018: USD 8,091 million
FDI Outflows 2016: USD 8,011 million
2017: USD 5,638 million
2018: USD 5,280 million
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser 2015: USD 3,904 million
2016: USD 1,758 million
2017: USD -607 million
2018: USD 962 million
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014 N/A
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015 N/A
Best countries for doing business Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.

Overall ranking:

12 out of 190 countries

Subcategories:
Starting a Business: 126 out of 190 countries
Dealing with Construction Permits: 2 out of 190 countries
Getting Electricity: 4 out of 190 countries
Registering Property: 33 out of 190 countries
Getting Credit: 37 out of 190 countries
Protecting Minority Investors: 2 out of 190 countries
Paying Taxes: 80 out of 190 countries
Trading across Borders: 49 out of 190 countries
Enforcing Contracts: 35 out of 190 countries
Resolving Insolvency: 40 out of 190 countries
Global competitiveness ranking 27 out of 141 countries

(2019)
Index of Economic Freedom Ranking: 22 / Score: 74 (Mostly free)

(100=totally free 0=totally repressed)

Population & Geographic Data

Time Zone UTC+8

Total Area 329,847 sq km
Total Population 1990: 18.27 million
2000: 23.5 million
2010: 28.59 million
2015: 31.19 million
2020*: 33.22 million
*Estimate
Urban population as % of total population 1960: 26.6%
1980: 42%
2000: 62%
2018: 76%
Population median age 28.7 years
Population growth rate 1.34% (2018 estimate)
Life expectancy 75.4 years (2018 estimate)
% of population living on less than $3.10 a day 0.2% (last available estimate, 2015)
Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index) 41 (last available estimate, 2015)
Freedom House rating Partly Free
Political Rights: 4
Civil Liberties: 4 (2019)
(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free rating)
Total telephone subscribers as % of population Fixed: 20.4% Mobile: 134.5% (2018)
(fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)
Internet users as % of total population 81.2 % (2018)

Language & Religon

Languages Bahasa Malaysia (official), English, Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai

Note: in East Malaysia there are several indigenous languages; most widely spoken are Iban and Kadazan
Literacy Total population: 94.6%
Male: 96.2%
Female: 93.2%
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.)
Religions
Muslim (official) 61.3%, Buddhist 19.8%, Christian 9.2%, Hindu 6.3%, Confucianism, Taoism, other traditional Chinese religions 1.3%, other 0.4%, none 0.8%, unspecified 1% (2010 est.)

World Rankings

Population 33.22 M
Mercer Cost of living index Kuala Lumpur: 141st (2019)
C02 Emissions per capita 8.13 metric tons per capita (2014)

Global Finance Rankings & Awards: Malaysia

Global Finance Magazine holds several conferences and awards ceremonies throughout the year to recognize the winning financial institutions and companies in a host of categories including World’s Best Trade Finance Banks, World's Biggest Banks, World's Safest Banks, World's Best Developed & Emerging Markets Banks, World's Best Internet Banks, and World’s Best Investment Banks.


Data Sources:

IMF World Economic Outlook

UN World Population Prospects

World Inequality Report

S&P Global Ratings

Moody’s

Fitch Ratings

IMF Direction of Trade Statistics (DOTS)

UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

CIA The World Factbook

World Bank’s World Integrated Trade Solution

Forbes Global 2000

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