Key features of human rights in Malaysia
Malaysia: Key features of human rights was 0.739 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Key features of human rights in Malaysia, 1900–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Malaysia recorded 0.739 for key features of human rights in 2025.
The figure is down 0.5% on the previous year and up 20.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, key features of human rights in Malaysia peaked at 0.749 in 2023 and was at its lowest, 0.265, in 1942.
That places Malaysia 91st out of 176 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 126 years of available data.
Key features of human rights in Malaysia, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 0.524 | — |
| 1901 | 0.524 | +0.0% |
| 1902 | 0.524 | +0.0% |
| 1903 | 0.524 | +0.0% |
| 1904 | 0.524 | +0.0% |
| 1905 | 0.524 | +0.0% |
| 1906 | 0.524 | +0.0% |
| 1907 | 0.524 | +0.0% |
| 1908 | 0.524 | +0.0% |
| 1909 | 0.524 | +0.0% |
| 1910 | 0.524 | +0.0% |
| 1911 | 0.524 | +0.0% |
| 1912 | 0.524 | +0.0% |
| 1913 | 0.524 | +0.0% |
| 1914 | 0.524 | +0.0% |
| 1915 | 0.515 | -1.7% |
| 1916 | 0.525 | +1.9% |
| 1917 | 0.525 | +0.0% |
| 1918 | 0.525 | +0.0% |
| 1919 | 0.525 | +0.0% |
| 1920 | 0.525 | +0.0% |
| 1921 | 0.525 | +0.0% |
| 1922 | 0.525 | +0.0% |
| 1923 | 0.525 | +0.0% |
| 1924 | 0.525 | +0.0% |
| 1925 | 0.525 | +0.0% |
| 1926 | 0.525 | +0.0% |
| 1927 | 0.525 | +0.0% |
| 1928 | 0.525 | +0.0% |
| 1929 | 0.525 | +0.0% |
| 1930 | 0.525 | +0.0% |
| 1931 | 0.525 | +0.0% |
| 1932 | 0.525 | +0.0% |
| 1933 | 0.525 | +0.0% |
| 1934 | 0.525 | +0.0% |
| 1935 | 0.525 | +0.0% |
| 1936 | 0.525 | +0.0% |
| 1937 | 0.525 | +0.0% |
| 1938 | 0.525 | +0.0% |
| 1939 | 0.525 | +0.0% |
| 1940 | 0.484 | -7.8% |
| 1941 | 0.373 | -22.9% |
| 1942 | 0.265 | -29.0% |
| 1943 | 0.265 | +0.0% |
| 1944 | 0.265 | +0.0% |
| 1945 | 0.275 | +3.8% |
| 1946 | 0.453 | +64.7% |
| 1947 | 0.511 | +12.8% |
| 1948 | 0.48 | -6.1% |
| 1949 | 0.48 | +0.0% |
| 1950 | 0.482 | +0.4% |
| 1951 | 0.482 | +0.0% |
| 1952 | 0.482 | +0.0% |
| 1953 | 0.482 | +0.0% |
| 1954 | 0.482 | +0.0% |
| 1955 | 0.512 | +6.2% |
| 1956 | 0.512 | +0.0% |
| 1957 | 0.532 | +3.9% |
| 1958 | 0.554 | +4.1% |
| 1959 | 0.554 | +0.0% |
| 1960 | 0.554 | +0.0% |
| 1961 | 0.57 | +2.9% |
| 1962 | 0.57 | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 0.57 | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 0.558 | -2.1% |
| 1965 | 0.558 | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 0.558 | +0.0% |
| 1967 | 0.561 | +0.5% |
| 1968 | 0.558 | -0.5% |
| 1969 | 0.558 | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 0.552 | -1.1% |
| 1971 | 0.552 | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 0.552 | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 0.552 | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 0.552 | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 0.548 | -0.7% |
| 1976 | 0.548 | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 0.548 | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 0.554 | +1.1% |
| 1979 | 0.554 | +0.0% |
| 1980 | 0.563 | +1.6% |
| 1981 | 0.56 | -0.5% |
| 1982 | 0.563 | +0.5% |
| 1983 | 0.563 | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 0.563 | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 0.556 | -1.2% |
| 1986 | 0.559 | +0.5% |
| 1987 | 0.557 | -0.4% |
| 1988 | 0.556 | -0.2% |
| 1989 | 0.556 | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 0.564 | +1.4% |
| 1991 | 0.564 | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 0.564 | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 0.564 | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 0.564 | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 0.564 | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 0.564 | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 0.564 | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 0.571 | +1.2% |
| 1999 | 0.573 | +0.4% |
| 2000 | 0.582 | +1.6% |
| 2001 | 0.59 | +1.4% |
| 2002 | 0.59 | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 0.595 | +0.8% |
| 2004 | 0.628 | +5.5% |
| 2005 | 0.625 | -0.5% |
| 2006 | 0.628 | +0.5% |
| 2007 | 0.63 | +0.3% |
| 2008 | 0.635 | +0.8% |
| 2009 | 0.629 | -0.9% |
| 2010 | 0.629 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 0.624 | -0.8% |
| 2012 | 0.624 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 0.615 | -1.4% |
| 2014 | 0.615 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 0.615 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 0.605 | -1.6% |
| 2017 | 0.638 | +5.5% |
| 2018 | 0.723 | +13.3% |
| 2019 | 0.729 | +0.8% |
| 2020 | 0.711 | -2.5% |
| 2021 | 0.725 | +2.0% |
| 2022 | 0.736 | +1.5% |
| 2023 | 0.749 | +1.8% |
| 2024 | 0.743 | -0.8% |
| 2025 | 0.739 | -0.5% |
Malaysia compared with similar countries
- Malaysia's 0.739 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.7345, 1.0× the median. (48 countries reporting)
- Malaysia's 0.739 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.728, 1.0× the median. (22 countries reporting)
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
- 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 key features of human rights in Malaysia?
- Key features of human rights in Malaysia was 0.739 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest key features of human rights recorded in Malaysia?
- The highest recorded value was 0.749 in 2023.
- What is the lowest key features of human rights recorded in Malaysia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.265 in 1942.
- How does Malaysia rank for key features of human rights?
- Malaysia ranks 91st out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
- Is key features of human rights 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 Key features of human rights. 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.