Rural population growth in Malaysia
Malaysia: Rural population growth was -0.9% in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Rural population growth in Malaysia, 1961–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in annual %.
Analysis
Malaysia recorded -0.9% for rural population growth in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 65 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 13.2% on the previous year and down 4,369.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population growth in Malaysia peaked at 2.1% in 1963 and was at its lowest, -0.9%, in 2025.
Malaysia ranks 164th of 207 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 2.0% | 1.8% | 2.1% | 9 |
| 1970s | 1.7% | 1.5% | 1.9% | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.8% | -0.1% | 1.9% | 10 |
| 1990s | -0.4% | -0.5% | -0.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | -0.5% | -0.6% | -0.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.1% | -0.2% | 0.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | -0.6% | -0.9% | 0.5% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Malaysia
More agriculture & rural data for Malaysia
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.1% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.3% (2025)
- Rural population 22.6% (2025)
- Rural population 8.13 million (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 8.2% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 38.79 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 615,072 hectares (2023)
- Cereal yield 3,524 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal production 2.17 million metric tons (2023)
- Fertilizer consumption 2,926 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population growth in Malaysia?
- Rural population growth in Malaysia was -0.9% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population growth recorded in Malaysia?
- The highest recorded value was 2.1% in 1963.
- What is the lowest rural population growth recorded in Malaysia?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.9% in 2025.
- How does Malaysia rank for rural population growth?
- Malaysia ranks 164th out of 207 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population growth rising or falling in Malaysia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4,369.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Malaysia data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Rural population growth (annual %). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 65 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Annual rural population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear rural population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage. Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population.