Freedom Score in Malaysia
Malaysia: Freedom Score was 53 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Freedom Score in Malaysia, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Malaysia recorded 53 for freedom score in 2025. That is the highest value across all 24 years on record.
The figure is up 17.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, freedom score in Malaysia peaked at 53 in 2022 and was at its lowest, 42, in 2002.
That places Malaysia 111th out of 197 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 24 years of available data.
Freedom Score in Malaysia, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 42 | — |
| 2003 | 45 | +7.1% |
| 2004 | 49 | +8.9% |
| 2005 | 50 | +2.0% |
| 2006 | 48 | -4.0% |
| 2007 | 46 | -4.2% |
| 2008 | 49 | +6.5% |
| 2009 | 49 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 49 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 49 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 48 | -2.0% |
| 2013 | 47 | -2.1% |
| 2014 | 46 | -2.1% |
| 2015 | 45 | -2.2% |
| 2016 | 44 | -2.2% |
| 2017 | 45 | +2.3% |
| 2018 | 52 | +15.6% |
| 2019 | 52 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 51 | -1.9% |
| 2021 | 50 | -2.0% |
| 2022 | 53 | +6.0% |
| 2023 | 53 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 53 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 53 | +0.0% |
Malaysia compared with similar countries
- Malaysia's 53 is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 61.5, 86% of the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Malaysia's 53 is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 73, 73% of the median. (31 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 47.25 | 42 | 50 | 8 |
| 2010s | 47.7 | 44 | 52 | 10 |
| 2020s | 52.17 | 50 | 53 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Malaysia
More social development data for Malaysia
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 150,164 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 2,477 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 4 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 4 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0001 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 2,477 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0042 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is freedom score in Malaysia?
- Freedom score in Malaysia was 53 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest freedom score recorded in Malaysia?
- The highest recorded value was 53 in 2022.
- What is the lowest freedom score recorded in Malaysia?
- The lowest recorded value was 42 in 2002.
- How does Malaysia rank for freedom score?
- Malaysia ranks 111th out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is freedom score rising or falling in Malaysia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 17.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Malaysia data come from?
- The figures come from Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Freedom Score. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Freedom House's total democracy score is a 0-to-100 aggregate that adds up a country's points on 25 indicators of political rights (max 40) and civil liberties (max 60), creating a single snapshot of the freedoms people actually enjoy.