Human Rights Index in Malaysia
Malaysia: Human Rights Index was 0.739 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Human Rights Index in Malaysia, 1900–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for human rights index in Malaysia is 0.739, measured in 2025.
That represents a change of down 0.5% on the previous year and up 20.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, human rights index in Malaysia peaked at 0.749 in 2023 and was at its lowest, 0.265, in 1942.
Malaysia ranks 91st of 176 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 126 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0.524 | 0.524 | 0.524 | 10 |
| 1910s | 0.5235 | 0.515 | 0.525 | 10 |
| 1920s | 0.525 | 0.525 | 0.525 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0.525 | 0.525 | 0.525 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0.3851 | 0.265 | 0.511 | 10 |
| 1950s | 0.5074 | 0.482 | 0.554 | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.5615 | 0.554 | 0.57 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.5512 | 0.548 | 0.554 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.5596 | 0.556 | 0.563 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.5656 | 0.564 | 0.573 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.6132 | 0.582 | 0.635 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.6417 | 0.605 | 0.729 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.7338 | 0.711 | 0.749 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Malaysia
More social development data for Malaysia
- Political Rights Rating 4 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 150,164 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 2,477 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Key features of democracy 0.504 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.586 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.791 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.504 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.303 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.355 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is human rights index in Malaysia?
- Human rights index in Malaysia was 0.739 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest human rights index recorded in Malaysia?
- The highest recorded value was 0.749 in 2023.
- What is the lowest human rights index recorded in Malaysia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.265 in 1942.
- How does Malaysia rank for human rights index?
- Malaysia ranks 91st out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
- Is human rights index rising or falling in Malaysia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 20.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Malaysia data come from?
- The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Human Rights Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 126 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Central estimate of the extent to which people are free from government torture, political killings, and forced labor, they have property rights, and enjoy the freedoms of movement, religion, expression, and association.