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 |
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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 |
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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 |
Malaysia
Inflation & Debt
Inflation |
2015: 2.1% 2016: 2.1% 2017: 3.8% 2018*: 1% 2019*: 1% *Estimate |
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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) |
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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) |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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