Prosperity gap in Malaysia
Malaysia: Prosperity gap was 1.19 in 2021. ▼ Falling
Prosperity gap in Malaysia, 1984–2021
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Malaysia recorded 1.19 for prosperity gap in 2021. That is the lowest value across all 14 years on record.
That represents a change of down 7.3% on the previous year and down 39.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prosperity gap in Malaysia peaked at 3.75 in 1984 and was at its lowest, 1.19, in 2021.
Malaysia ranks 93rd of 120 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 14 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 3.72 | 3.67 | 3.75 | 3 |
| 1990s | 3.28 | 2.84 | 3.51 | 3 |
| 2000s | 2.71 | 2.55 | 2.98 | 3 |
| 2010s | 1.57 | 1.29 | 1.96 | 4 |
| 2020s | 1.19 | 1.19 | 1.19 | 1 |
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 prosperity gap in Malaysia?
- Prosperity gap in Malaysia was 1.19 in 2021, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest prosperity gap recorded in Malaysia?
- The highest recorded value was 3.75 in 1984.
- What is the lowest prosperity gap recorded in Malaysia?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.19 in 2021.
- How does Malaysia rank for prosperity gap?
- Malaysia ranks 93rd out of 120 countries with data for 2021.
- Is prosperity gap rising or falling in Malaysia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 39.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Malaysia data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Prosperity gap. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 14 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Average factor by which incomes need to be multiplied to bring everyone to the prosperity standard of $28 per person per day.