China vs Malaysia: Democracy
China
1
in 2025
Malaysia
1
in 2025
China rank
90th
Malaysia rank
90th
Democracy over time
- China
- Malaysia
How they compare
China currently reports 1 against 1 in Malaysia, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 126 shared years of data; in 1900 it was Malaysia ahead.
China ranks 90th and Malaysia ranks 90th of 175 countries.
Across the 13 decades both report, China averaged higher in 1 and Malaysia in 3.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | China | Malaysia | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1910s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1920s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1930s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1940s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1950s | 1 | 1.2 | 0.2 | Malaysia |
| 1960s | 1 | 0.9 | 0.1 | China |
| 1970s | 1 | 1.3 | 0.3 | Malaysia |
| 1980s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1990s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 2000s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 2010s | 1 | 1.2 | 0.2 | Malaysia |
| 2020s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher democracy, China or Malaysia?
- China, at 1 against 1 in Malaysia as of 2025.
- What is the difference in democracy between China and Malaysia?
- 0, with China ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for China and Malaysia?
- 126 years are reported by both, from 1900 to 2025.
- How do China and Malaysia rank globally for democracy?
- China ranks 90th and Malaysia ranks 90th of 175 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Episodes of Regime Transformation (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Democracy. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Political regime of a country using the classification by the Episodes of Regime Transformation-project. It distinguishes between hardening autocracies (score 0), stable autocracies (score 1), liberalizing autocracies (score 2), eroding democracies (score 3), stable democracies (score 4), and deepening democracies (score 5).