Homicides in Malaysia
Malaysia: Homicides was 858.4 deaths in 2021. ▲ Rising
Latest (2021)
858.4 deaths
Change on year
down 0.5%
World rank
61st
of 194 countries
All-time high
871.04 deaths
in 2017
All-time low
736.16 deaths
in 2000
Years of data
22
2000–2021
Homicides in Malaysia, 2000–2021
Source: World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in deaths.
Analysis
Malaysia recorded 858.4 deaths for homicides in 2021.
The figure is down 0.5% on the previous year and up 8.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicides in Malaysia peaked at 871.04 deaths in 2017 and was at its lowest, 736.16 deaths, in 2000.
That places Malaysia 61st out of 194 countries with data for 2021, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 22 years of available data.
Homicides in Malaysia, year by year
| Year | deaths | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 736.16 deaths | — |
| 2001 | 740.02 deaths | +0.5% |
| 2002 | 756.18 deaths | +2.2% |
| 2003 | 761.27 deaths | +0.7% |
| 2004 | 761.28 deaths | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 791.22 deaths | +3.9% |
| 2006 | 806.56 deaths | +1.9% |
| 2007 | 823.15 deaths | +2.1% |
| 2008 | 811.81 deaths | -1.4% |
| 2009 | 795.68 deaths | -2.0% |
| 2010 | 785.86 deaths | -1.2% |
| 2011 | 788.23 deaths | +0.3% |
| 2012 | 812.48 deaths | +3.1% |
| 2013 | 834.4 deaths | +2.7% |
| 2014 | 843.74 deaths | +1.1% |
| 2015 | 852.92 deaths | +1.1% |
| 2016 | 861.92 deaths | +1.1% |
| 2017 | 871.04 deaths | +1.1% |
| 2018 | 864.2 deaths | -0.8% |
| 2019 | 868.8 deaths | +0.5% |
| 2020 | 863.11 deaths | -0.7% |
| 2021 | 858.4 deaths | -0.5% |
Malaysia compared with similar countries
- Malaysia's 858.4 deaths is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 237.51 deaths, 3.6× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Malaysia's 858.4 deaths is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 123.38 deaths, 7.0× the median. (30 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 778.33 deaths | 736.16 deaths | 823.15 deaths | 10 |
| 2010s | 838.36 deaths | 785.86 deaths | 871.04 deaths | 10 |
| 2020s | 860.75 deaths | 858.4 deaths | 863.11 deaths | 2 |
Countries ranked near Malaysia
- 58 Papua New Guinea 1,035 deaths compare
- 59 Lesotho 907.22 deaths compare
- 60 Panama 877.62 deaths compare
- 62 United Kingdom 857.99 deaths compare
- 63 Somalia 848.81 deaths compare
- 64 Kazakhstan 839.91 deaths compare
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 homicides in Malaysia?
- Homicides in Malaysia was 858.4 deaths in 2021, according to World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest homicides recorded in Malaysia?
- The highest recorded value was 871.04 deaths in 2017.
- What is the lowest homicides recorded in Malaysia?
- The lowest recorded value was 736.16 deaths in 2000.
- How does Malaysia rank for homicides?
- Malaysia ranks 61st out of 194 countries with data for 2021.
- Is homicides rising or falling in Malaysia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 8.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Malaysia data come from?
- The figures come from World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Homicides. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 22 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Estimated number of deaths from interpersonal violence in both sexes.