Democracy in Malaysia
Malaysia: Democracy was 5 in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Democracy in Malaysia, 1900–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Malaysia recorded 5 for democracy in 2025. That is the highest value across all 126 years on record.
The figure is up 66.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, democracy in Malaysia peaked at 5 in 2023 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1900.
That places Malaysia 74th out of 176 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1910s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1920s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1950s | 1.5 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| 1960s | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 1970s | 1.8 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| 1980s | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 1990s | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 2000s | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.1 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.17 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Malaysia
More reference data data for Malaysia
- Spring temperature anomalies 0.3171 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.4881 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 0.0702 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.2047 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 0.4538 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 134.6 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Competitive elections 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is democracy in Malaysia?
- Democracy in Malaysia was 5 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest democracy recorded in Malaysia?
- The highest recorded value was 5 in 2023.
- What is the lowest democracy recorded in Malaysia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1900.
- How does Malaysia rank for democracy?
- Malaysia ranks 74th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
- Is democracy rising or falling in Malaysia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 66.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Malaysia data come from?
- The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Democracy. 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
Political regime of a country using the Regimes of the World classification by political scientists Anna Lührmann, Marcus Tannenberg and Staffan Lindberg, including ambiguous categories.