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MY

Malaysia

MY Β· MYS Β· #66 Β· 23 cities

Nomad score 62/100 Compare

Governance at a glance

Government
Federal monarchy
UN member
Yes
Independent
Yes
CPI score (2026)
52/100
Press freedom (2025)
56.1/100 #88
Electoral democracy (2025)
0.504
HDI
0.819
Regional blocs
ASEAN

Government and leaders

Government type
Federal monarchy
Leaders
TitleName
King of MalaysiaIbrahim Iskandar of Johor
Prime Minister of MalaysiaAnwar Ibrahim

Safety and security

Homicide rate (2023)
0.7/100k
Traffic deaths (2019)
22.5/100k
Military spending (2024)
1.0% of GDP

World governance indicators

Percentile rank among all countries

Political stability (2023) 51th pct
Rule of law (2023) 67th pct
Corruption control (2023) 62th pct
Government effectiveness (2023) 80th pct
Regulatory quality (2023) 73th pct
Voice and accountability (2023) 51th pct
Source: World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI). Percentile rank among all countries (0=lowest, 100=highest).

Corruption perceptions index

CPI score (2026)
52 / 100
Interpretation
Moderate corruption
Source: Transparency International / Corruption Insights API. Higher scores = less corruption.

Democracy index

Electoral (2025)
0.504
Liberal
0.355
Participatory
0.303
Deliberative
0.364
Egalitarian
0.380
Source: V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy), CC-BY-SA. Scale: 0 (least democratic) to 1 (most democratic).

Press freedom index

Overall score (2025)
56.1 / 100
Global rank
#88 / 180
Rank change
+19 vs previous year
RSF zone
Asie-Pacifique
Political #92
44.7
Economic #60
48.7
Legal #133
46.3
Social #81
62.7
Safety #90
78.2
Source: Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Higher scores = better press freedom. Five dimensions of press freedom tracked over time. Scores before 2013 used a different RSF scale (lower was better) and are not shown.

Press freedom historical data

Press freedom historical data
Year Score Rank Political Economic Legal Social Safety
2025 56.1 88 44.7 48.7 46.3 62.7 78.2
2024 52.1 107 44.4 45.6 34.0 52.6 83.7
2023 62.8 73 55.3 52.9 44.6 75.9 85.5
2022 51.6 113 46.5 42.6 40.1 56.0 72.5
2021 60.5 119 Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable 100.0
2020 66.9 101 Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable 100.0
2019 63.3 123 Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable 100.0
2018 52.6 145 Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable 100.0
2017 53.1 144 Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable 93.1
2016 53.4 146 Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable 44.9
2015 56.7 147 Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable 78.0
2014 57.3 147 Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable
2013 57.3 145 Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable
Source: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Press Freedom Index, 0-100 scale (higher is better). Scores before 2013 used a different RSF scale (lower was better) and are not shown.

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