Malaysia population
Malaysia: 36 million people in 2025 (35,977,838), 45th of 217 countries and areas — and 44.3 million projected for 2050.
Compare Malaysia with another country
Where it stands
In 2025 Malaysia has 35,977,838 people, which is 0.44% of the 8.19 billion counted across the 217 countries and areas on this site. That puts it 45th by population, behind Poland and ahead of Mozambique.
Since 1960
In 1960 the figure was 7,956,197. Since then the population has grown 4.52×, an average of 2.35% a year upward. It doubled at some point along the way — the year it first reached 15,912,394 was 1987.
The projection keeps rising to the end of the data: 44,289,772 in 2050, 23.1% above 2025. The highest figure on this page is that last one, so no peak has been reached yet.
The ranking in 2050
In 2050 the projected rank is 49th, down 4 places from 45th. Rankings move when other countries grow faster or slower, not only when Malaysia changes.
People and land
Malaysia covers 328,550 km² of land, so 2025 density is 110 people per km² — 98th most crowded of 216 places with an area figure. At that density a square 10 km on a side holds about 10,950 people.
The fertility rate was 1.54 births per woman in 2024, below the roughly 2.1 needed to keep a population steady without migration; life expectancy at birth was 76.8 years (2024); 21.3% of people were under 15 and 8% were 65 or older (2025); 77% of the population lived in cities. These shape the curve above: a young population keeps growing after fertility falls, an old one starts shrinking sooner.
Its nearest neighbours in the ranking are Poland just above, with 36.4 million (1.01× as many), and Mozambique just below, with 35.6 million (1.01× as many as Mozambique has).
How the numbers are taken. Total population from the World Bank's population estimates and projections (built from United Nations and national statistics). Values to 2025 are estimates; 2026–2050 are projections that continue current fertility, mortality and migration trends. Sources and limits.