Free country in Malaysia

Malaysia: Free country was 1 in 2025. ▼ Falling

Latest (2025)
1
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
90th
of 198 countries
All-time high
2
in 1972
All-time low
1
in 1974
Years of data
53
1972–2025

Free country in Malaysia, 1972–2025

00.511.52197219982025

Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

Malaysia recorded 1 for free country in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 53 years on record.

The figure is unchanged over ten years.

Over the whole period, free country in Malaysia peaked at 2 in 1972 and was at its lowest, 1, in 1974.

That places Malaysia 90th out of 198 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 53 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 1.25 1 2 8
1980s 1 1 1 9
1990s 1 1 1 10
2000s 1 1 1 10
2010s 1 1 1 10
2020s 1 1 1 6

Countries ranked near Malaysia

  1. 90 Albania 1 compare
  2. 90 Armenia 1 compare
  3. 90 Bangladesh 1 compare
  4. 90 Benin 1 compare
  5. 90 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 compare
  6. 90 Comoros 1 compare
  7. 90 Cote d'Ivoire 1 compare
  8. 90 Dominican Republic 1 compare
  9. 90 Ecuador 1 compare
  10. 90 El Salvador 1 compare
  11. 90 Gambia 1 compare
  12. 90 Georgia 1 compare
  13. 90 Guatemala 1 compare
  14. 90 Guinea-Bissau 1 compare
  15. 90 Honduras 1 compare
  16. 90 Hong Kong 1 compare
  17. 90 Hungary 1 compare
  18. 90 India 1 compare
  19. 90 Indonesia 1 compare
  20. 90 Jordan 1 compare
  21. 90 Kenya 1 compare
  22. 90 Lebanon 1 compare
  23. 90 Liberia 1 compare
  24. 90 Madagascar 1 compare
  25. 90 Maldives 1 compare
  26. 90 Mauritania 1 compare
  27. 90 Mexico 1 compare
  28. 90 Moldova 1 compare
  29. 90 Montenegro 1 compare
  30. 90 Morocco 1 compare
  31. 90 Mozambique 1 compare
  32. 90 Nepal 1 compare
  33. 90 Nigeria 1 compare
  34. 90 North Macedonia 1 compare
  35. 90 Pakistan 1 compare
  36. 90 Papua New Guinea 1 compare
  37. 90 Paraguay 1 compare
  38. 90 Peru 1 compare
  39. 90 Philippines 1 compare
  40. 90 Serbia 1 compare
  41. 90 Sierra Leone 1 compare
  42. 90 Singapore 1 compare
  43. 90 Sri Lanka 1 compare
  44. 90 Togo 1 compare
  45. 90 Tunisia 1 compare
  46. 90 Ukraine 1 compare
  47. 90 Zambia 1 compare

See the full ranking of 199 places →

More reference data data for Malaysia

All data for Malaysia →

Frequently asked questions

What is free country in Malaysia?
Free country in Malaysia was 1 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest free country recorded in Malaysia?
The highest recorded value was 2 in 1972.
What is the lowest free country recorded in Malaysia?
The lowest recorded value was 1 in 1974.
How does Malaysia rank for free country?
Malaysia ranks 90th out of 198 countries with data for 2025.
Is free country rising or falling in Malaysia?
Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Malaysia data come from?
The figures come from Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Free country. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 53 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Free country
Source
Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
199 places, 10,083 data points, 1972–2025
Last refreshed

The variable identifies the political regime of a country. It distinguishes between free countries (score 2), partly free countries (score 1), and not free countries (score 0).