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Country profile

Malaysia

MY · MYS · East Asia & Pacific

A consolidated migration profile for Malaysia: who arrives, who leaves, how many people are hosted or displaced, and the national context behind those numbers. Every figure below is a reported value from an official source — nothing is estimated or filled in.

CapitalKuala Lumpur
RegionEast Asia & Pacific
SubregionEast Asia & Pacific (excluding high income)
Population35,977,838
Refugees hosted 150,164 People protected here
Refugees from here — Fled abroad
Migrants living here 3,806,514 Foreign-born stock
Net migration 166,615 Net inflow
Asylum-seekers 63,011 Awaiting a decision
Reporting year 2025 Most recent data
Latest figures · 2025

Key migration numbers

The headline counts for the most recent reporting year. Refugees hosted are people this country protects; asylum-seekers are still awaiting a decision; applications are new asylum claims lodged during the year.

2025Reporting year
150,164Refugees hosted
63,011Asylum-seekers
3,629Applications (year)
Migration balance

Incoming vs outgoing

Annual estimates

Net migration is arrivals minus departures over the year. Positive means more people moved in than out. Migrant stock is the total foreign-born people living here now.

Net migration (year)166,615Net inflow
Migrants living here3,806,514Migrant stock
Missing / dead migrants
No data available
IOM Missing Migrants Project
Historical series

Statistics

Recorded migrant, refugee and asylum populations over time. Each line is one category; gaps mean a year the source did not report a figure (the line bridges the gap rather than dropping to zero).

Population profile

Sex, age, religion & more

How the population breaks down across reported dimensions, grouped by the year each figure was reported (most recent first). Bars show each group’s share of the total; where only headcounts were published, the raw number is shown instead.

Religion

Religious make-up over time

National shares

Share of the population by faith across the recorded years. Each line is a stored national value; nothing is estimated.

0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2020
Christian Muslim Jewish Unaffiliated Other

See the full religion timeline for this country →

Places of worship

Places of worship over time

Recorded counts

No places-of-worship counts are recorded for this country yet. See the Places of worship page for the full picture.

See the full places-of-worship timeline for this country → · browse individual places →

Displaced population by age cohort for the most recent reported year. Age is summed across sexes in the source data, so this is a single series per cohort — not a male/female split.

Displaced population by sex over the reported years, stacked so the top line reads as the total.

Sex

Female 29.1%
Male 47.8%
Unknown 23.1%

Age

0-4 8.5%
12-17 4.5%
18-59 52.2%
5-11 10.5%
60+ 1.2%
Country context

National indicators

Economy

GDP (current US$)472,193,128,644.60 USD2025
GDP per capita (current US$)13,124.56 USD2025
Unemployment (% of labour force)3.76 %2025
Personal remittances received (US$)1,605,279,752.32 USD2024
Personal remittances received (% of GDP)0.38 %2024

Population

Population, total35,977,838.00 people2025
Population density106.91 people/km22023

Migration

Net migration166,615.00 people2025
International migrant stock, total3,806,514.00 people2024
International migrant stock (% of population)10.70 %2024

Asylum decisions

Asylum decisions - recognised2,176.00 people2025
Asylum decisions - rejected159.00 people2025
Asylum decisions - otherwise closed772.00 people2025
Asylum decisions - total3,107.00 people2025

Durable solutions

Returned refugees40.00 people2025

Other

Life expectancy at birth, total (years)76.82 years2024
Primary completion rate, total (% of relevant age group)87.74 %2024
Current health expenditure (% of GDP)3.96 %2023
Gini index40.70 2021
Poverty headcount ratio at $2.15 a day (% of population)0.00 %2021
Context

Migration & quality of life

These charts place migration next to quality-of-life indicators over time. Correlation is not causation — a relationship here does not prove migration caused the change, or that a change caused the migration.

Economy

Gross domestic product

World Bank

GDP (current US$)

$472.19B

Reported 2025

GDP per capita (current US$)

$13,125

Reported 2025

Migrant stock as a share of the population (left axis, in percent) shown against life expectancy (right axis, in years) over the years.

Each point is one year: migrant share of population (x, in percent) versus life expectancy (y, in years).

Public safety

Recorded crime

Not migrant offending

National crime figures for context only — they describe the whole resident population and are not a measure of migrant offending.

Recorded crime by type
rate / 100k where available
CrimeRate / 100k
Homicide0.73
Public expenditure

Expenses

Migration-related public spending only — Official Development Assistance received and provided (which, for donor countries, includes in-donor refugee costs), in US dollars, stacked so the top line reads as the combined total for each year.

YearAmount (USD)Category
2023$6,578,659ODA received
2022$5,940,241ODA received
2021$15,473,510ODA received
2020$-4,258,188ODA received
2019$-1,948,065ODA received
2018$-34,465,195ODA received
2017$-29,250,389ODA received
2016$-51,818,665ODA received
2015$-600,624ODA received
2014$19,922,899ODA received
2013$-113,312,218ODA received
2012$18,323,242ODA received
2011$40,812,160ODA received
2010$-8,190,000ODA received
2009$139,920,364ODA received
2008$156,349,228ODA received
2007$202,151,505ODA received
2006$241,361,511ODA received
2005$29,219,339ODA received
2004$299,228,821ODA received
2003$110,320,396ODA received
2002$89,343,117ODA received
2001$29,328,119ODA received
2000$48,647,419ODA received
1999$145,932,373ODA received
1998$201,742,249ODA received
1997$-240,341,080ODA received
1996$-456,603,333ODA received
1995$106,746,666ODA received
1994$65,690,002ODA received
1993$94,010,002ODA received
1992$202,440,002ODA received
1991$287,899,994ODA received
1990$466,540,009ODA received
1989$137,509,995ODA received
1988$101,980,003ODA received
1987$362,059,998ODA received
1986$190,559,998ODA received
1985$226,800,003ODA received
1984$325,029,999ODA received
1983$175,470,001ODA received
1982$134,720,001ODA received
1981$142,720,001ODA received
1980$134,490,005ODA received
1979$124,589,996ODA received
1978$79,620,003ODA received
1977$70,410,004ODA received
1976$62,490,002ODA received
1975$98,220,001ODA received
1974$68,339,996ODA received
1973$44,209,999ODA received
1972$50,080,002ODA received
1971$42,189,999ODA received
1970$26,360,001ODA received
1969$30,820,000ODA received
1968$25,670,000ODA received
1967$23,100,000ODA received
1966$30,150,000ODA received
1965$22,180,000ODA received
1964$17,180,000ODA received
1963$12,730,000ODA received
1962$21,820,000ODA received
1961$18,910,000ODA received
1960$13,280,000ODA received
Sources & notes

Figures are consolidated from the UNHCR Refugee Data Finder and the World Bank / UNODC. Only reported values are shown — blanks mean a source did not publish a figure, never a fabricated estimate. Statistics describe recorded populations and movements and should not be read as causal relationships.