Democracy in Malaysia
Malaysia: Democracy was 4 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Democracy in Malaysia, 2005–2025
Source: Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for democracy in Malaysia is 4, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 11 years on record.
That represents a change of up 33.3% on the previous year and up 100.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, democracy in Malaysia peaked at 4 in 2025 and was at its lowest, 2, in 2005.
Malaysia ranks 16th of 128 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 11 years of available data.
Democracy in Malaysia, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 2 | — |
| 2007 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 3 | +50.0% |
| 2021 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 4 | +33.3% |
Malaysia compared with similar countries
- Malaysia's 4 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 3, 1.3× the median. (42 countries reporting)
- Malaysia's 4 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 1.5, 2.7× the median. (14 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 2010s | 2.2 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 2020s | 3.33 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
Countries ranked near Malaysia
- 16 Albania 4 compare
- 16 Argentina 4 compare
- 16 Armenia 4 compare
- 16 Bhutan 4 compare
- 16 Bolivia 4 compare
- 16 Brazil 4 compare
- 16 Bulgaria 4 compare
- 16 Colombia 4 compare
- 16 Dominican Republic 4 compare
- 16 Ecuador 4 compare
- 16 Ghana 4 compare
- 16 Hungary 4 compare
- 16 India 4 compare
- 16 Lesotho 4 compare
- 16 Liberia 4 compare
- 16 Malawi 4 compare
- 16 Mauritius 4 compare
- 16 Moldova 4 compare
- 16 Mongolia 4 compare
- 16 Montenegro 4 compare
- 16 Namibia 4 compare
- 16 Nepal 4 compare
- 16 North Macedonia 4 compare
- 16 Panama 4 compare
- 16 Paraguay 4 compare
- 16 Romania 4 compare
- 16 Senegal 4 compare
- 16 South Africa 4 compare
- 16 Sri Lanka 4 compare
- 16 Ukraine 4 compare
- 16 Zambia 4 compare
More reference data data for Malaysia
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.7102 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.5869 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 4.62 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.1487 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 4.62 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 2.38 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 1.64 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 3.29 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 21.1 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.8098 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is democracy in Malaysia?
- Democracy in Malaysia was 4 in 2025, according to Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest democracy recorded in Malaysia?
- The highest recorded value was 4 in 2025.
- What is the lowest democracy recorded in Malaysia?
- The lowest recorded value was 2 in 2005.
- How does Malaysia rank for democracy?
- Malaysia ranks 16th out of 128 countries with data for 2025.
- Is democracy rising or falling in Malaysia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 100.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Malaysia data come from?
- The figures come from Bertelsmann Transformation Index (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 — 11 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Identifies the political regime of a country. It distinguishes between hard-line autocracies (score 1), moderate autocracies (score 2), highly defective democracies (score 3), defective democracies (score 4), and consolidating democracies (score 5).