Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) in Malaysia

Malaysia: Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) was 0.9567 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
0.9567 approx. -2.5 to +2.5
Change on year
up 9.4%
World rank
41st
of 206 countries
All-time high
0.9567 approx. -2.5 to +2.5
in 2025
All-time low
0.6648 approx. -2.5 to +2.5
in 1998
Years of data
27
1996–2025

Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate in Malaysia, 1996–2025

00.20.40.60.811996201020251996: 0.698 approx. -2.5 to +2.51998: 0.665 approx. -2.5 to +2.52000: 0.801 approx. -2.5 to +2.52002: 0.807 approx. -2.5 to +2.52003: 0.821 approx. -2.5 to +2.52004: 0.745 approx. -2.5 to +2.52005: 0.698 approx. -2.5 to +2.52006: 0.739 approx. -2.5 to +2.52007: 0.795 approx. -2.5 to +2.52008: 0.749 approx. -2.5 to +2.52009: 0.675 approx. -2.5 to +2.52010: 0.949 approx. -2.5 to +2.52011: 0.889 approx. -2.5 to +2.52012: 0.904 approx. -2.5 to +2.52013: 0.9 approx. -2.5 to +2.52014: 0.942 approx. -2.5 to +2.52015: 0.874 approx. -2.5 to +2.52016: 0.821 approx. -2.5 to +2.52017: 0.807 approx. -2.5 to +2.52018: 0.899 approx. -2.5 to +2.52019: 0.864 approx. -2.5 to +2.52020: 0.935 approx. -2.5 to +2.52021: 0.864 approx. -2.5 to +2.52022: 0.817 approx. -2.5 to +2.52023: 0.767 approx. -2.5 to +2.52024: 0.874 approx. -2.5 to +2.52025: 0.957 approx. -2.5 to +2.5

Source: The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG). Measured in approx. -2.5 to +2.5.

Analysis

Malaysia recorded 0.9567 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 for government effectiveness - governance estimate in 2025. That is the highest value across all 27 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 9.4% on the previous year and up 9.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, government effectiveness - governance estimate in Malaysia peaked at 0.9567 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2025 and was at its lowest, 0.6648 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, in 1998.

That places Malaysia 41st out of 206 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 27 years of available data.

Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) in Malaysia, year by year

Annual values for Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) in Malaysia, 1996 to 2025.
Year approx. -2.5 to +2.5 Change
1996 0.6981 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 —
1998 0.6648 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -4.8%
2000 0.8014 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +20.6%
2002 0.8065 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +0.6%
2003 0.8212 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +1.8%
2004 0.7446 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -9.3%
2005 0.6985 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -6.2%
2006 0.7386 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +5.7%
2007 0.7952 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +7.7%
2008 0.749 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -5.8%
2009 0.6751 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -9.9%
2010 0.9491 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +40.6%
2011 0.889 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -6.3%
2012 0.904 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +1.7%
2013 0.8996 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -0.5%
2014 0.9421 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +4.7%
2015 0.8739 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -7.2%
2016 0.8207 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -6.1%
2017 0.807 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -1.7%
2018 0.8991 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +11.4%
2019 0.8644 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -3.9%
2020 0.9352 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +8.2%
2021 0.864 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -7.6%
2022 0.8174 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -5.4%
2023 0.7666 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -6.2%
2024 0.8742 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +14.0%
2025 0.9567 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +9.4%

Malaysia compared with similar countries

  • Malaysia's 0.9567 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is -0.023 approx. -2.5 to +2.5. (59 countries reporting)
  • Malaysia's 0.9567 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.1855 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, 5.2× the median. (34 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 0.6814 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.6648 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.6981 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 2
2000s 0.7589 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.6751 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.8212 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 9
2010s 0.8849 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.807 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.9491 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 10
2020s 0.869 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.7666 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.9567 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 6

Countries ranked near Malaysia

  1. 38 Chile 1.04 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  2. 39 Portugal 1.02 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  3. 40 Qatar 0.9959 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  4. 42 Italy 0.9246 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  5. 43 Aruba 0.9048 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  6. 44 Brunei 0.8926 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare

See the full ranking of 206 places →

More reference data data for Malaysia

All data for Malaysia →

Frequently asked questions

What is government effectiveness - governance estimate in Malaysia?
Government effectiveness - governance estimate in Malaysia was 0.9567 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2025, according to The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG).
What is the highest government effectiveness - governance estimate recorded in Malaysia?
The highest recorded value was 0.9567 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2025.
What is the lowest government effectiveness - governance estimate recorded in Malaysia?
The lowest recorded value was 0.6648 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 1998.
How does Malaysia rank for government effectiveness - governance estimate?
Malaysia ranks 41st out of 206 countries with data for 2025.
Is government effectiveness - governance estimate rising or falling in Malaysia?
Over the last ten years it is up 9.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Malaysia data come from?
The figures come from The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG), published as part of Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate in Malaysia. Statizoid, drawing on The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG). Retrieved 13 November 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/government-effectiveness-governance-estimate-approx-2-5-to-2-5/malaysia/

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About this data

Indicator
Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5)
Unit
approx. -2.5 to +2.5
Source
The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
206 places, 5,392 data points, 1996–2025
Last refreshed

Government Effectiveness (GE) captures perceptions of the quality of public services, the civil service, policy formulation and implementation, and the credibility of a government’s decisions. Governance estimate from the aggregation model, in units of a standard normal distribution, i.e. ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5. Larger values correspond to better governance. The (country-series-time) metadata include the (a) number of sources, and (b) standard error. The number of sources indicates the number of underlying data sources on which the governance estimate is based. The standard error indicates the precision of the governance estimate. Larger values indicate less precise estimates. A 90% confidence interval for the governance estimate is given by the estimate +/- 1.64 times the standard error.