Share of population living in urban areas in Malaysia
Malaysia: Share of population living in urban areas was 82.3% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Share of population living in urban areas in Malaysia, 1950–2020
Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2020, share of population living in urban areas in Malaysia stood at 82.3%. That is the highest value across all 15 years on record.
That represents a change of up 2.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population living in urban areas in Malaysia peaked at 82.3% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 57.8%, in 1950.
That places Malaysia 71st out of 236 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 15 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 58.7% | 57.8% | 59.6% | 2 |
| 1960s | 62.6% | 61.6% | 63.6% | 2 |
| 1970s | 66.2% | 65.3% | 67.1% | 2 |
| 1980s | 69.0% | 68.2% | 69.9% | 2 |
| 1990s | 73.2% | 71.8% | 74.5% | 2 |
| 2000s | 77.8% | 77.0% | 78.6% | 2 |
| 2010s | 80.8% | 80.2% | 81.5% | 2 |
| 2020s | 82.3% | 82.3% | 82.3% | 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 share of population living in urban areas in Malaysia?
- Share of population living in urban areas in Malaysia was 82.3% in 2020, according to European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of population living in urban areas recorded in Malaysia?
- The highest recorded value was 82.3% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of population living in urban areas recorded in Malaysia?
- The lowest recorded value was 57.8% in 1950.
- How does Malaysia rank for share of population living in urban areas?
- Malaysia ranks 71st out of 236 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of population living in urban areas rising or falling in Malaysia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Malaysia data come from?
- The figures come from European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of population living in urban areas. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 15 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Estimated share of the population living in urban areas (the sum of cities and towns and suburbs). Urban areas are identified using satellite imagery and population data, applying the same definitions across countries.