Political civil liberties index in Malaysia

Malaysia: Political civil liberties index was 0.691 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
0.691
Change on year
down 2.4%
World rank
97th
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.726
in 2019
All-time low
0.125
in 1942
Years of data
126
1900–2025

Political civil liberties index in Malaysia, 1900–2025

0.20.40.60.8190019622025

Source: Our World in Data.

Analysis

In 2025, political civil liberties index in Malaysia stood at 0.691.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 2.4% on the previous year and up 25.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, political civil liberties index in Malaysia peaked at 0.726 in 2019 and was at its lowest, 0.125, in 1942.

That places Malaysia 97th out of 176 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 126 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1900s 0.207 0.207 0.207 10
1910s 0.207 0.207 0.207 10
1920s 0.207 0.207 0.207 10
1930s 0.207 0.207 0.207 10
1940s 0.207 0.125 0.305 10
1950s 0.3184 0.294 0.371 10
1960s 0.3674 0.362 0.371 10
1970s 0.3507 0.345 0.356 10
1980s 0.3593 0.35 0.367 10
1990s 0.3734 0.368 0.422 10
2000s 0.5265 0.45 0.571 10
2010s 0.5879 0.544 0.726 10
2020s 0.6832 0.644 0.708 6

Countries ranked near Malaysia

  1. 94 Maldives 0.724 compare
  2. 95 Cote d'Ivoire 0.701 compare
  3. 96 Ecuador 0.694 compare
  4. 98 Bhutan 0.658 compare
  5. 99 Mexico 0.642 compare
  6. 100 Philippines 0.641 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More reference data data for Malaysia

All data for Malaysia →

Frequently asked questions

What is political civil liberties index in Malaysia?
Political civil liberties index in Malaysia was 0.691 in 2025, according to Our World in Data.
What is the highest political civil liberties index recorded in Malaysia?
The highest recorded value was 0.726 in 2019.
What is the lowest political civil liberties index recorded in Malaysia?
The lowest recorded value was 0.125 in 1942.
How does Malaysia rank for political civil liberties index?
Malaysia ranks 97th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is political civil liberties index rising or falling in Malaysia?
Over the last ten years it is up 25.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Malaysia data come from?
The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Political civil liberties index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 126 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Political civil liberties index
Source
Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
176 places, 30,211 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed