Statizoid

Electoral democracy in Malaysia

Malaysia: Electoral democracy was 1 in 2025. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2025)
1
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
1st
of 197 countries
All-time high
1
in 2018
All-time low
0
in 1874
Years of data
152
1874–2025

Electoral democracy in Malaysia, 1874–2025

00.20.40.60.81187419492025

Source: Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

Malaysia recorded 1 for electoral democracy in 2025. That is the highest value across all 152 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is unchanged over five years.

Over the whole period, electoral democracy in Malaysia peaked at 1 in 2018 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1874.

That places Malaysia 1st out of 197 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1870s 0 0 0 6
1880s 0 0 0 10
1890s 0 0 0 10
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 0 0 0 10
1960s 0 0 0 10
1970s 0 0 0 10
1980s 0 0 0 10
1990s 0 0 0 10
2000s 0 0 0 10
2010s 0.2 0 1 10
2020s 1 1 1 6

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See the full ranking of 198 places →

More social development data for Malaysia

All data for Malaysia →

Frequently asked questions

What is electoral democracy in Malaysia?
Electoral democracy in Malaysia was 1 in 2025, according to Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest electoral democracy recorded in Malaysia?
The highest recorded value was 1 in 2018.
What is the lowest electoral democracy recorded in Malaysia?
The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1874.
How does Malaysia rank for electoral democracy?
Malaysia ranks 1st out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
Where does this Malaysia data come from?
The figures come from Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Electoral democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 152 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Electoral democracy
Source
Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
198 places, 32,485 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed

Identifies the political regime of a country using the reduced Lexical Index of Electoral Democracy. It distinguishes between non-electoral autocracies, one-party autocracies, multi-party autocracies without elected executive, multi-party autocracies, exclusive democracies, male democracies, and electoral democracies (including full democracies or polyarchies).