Income inequality: Atkinson index in Malaysia
Malaysia: Income inequality: Atkinson index was 0.2476 in 2023. ▼ Falling
Income inequality: Atkinson index in Malaysia, 2010–2023
Source: UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for income inequality: atkinson index in Malaysia is 0.2476, measured in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 11.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, income inequality: atkinson index in Malaysia peaked at 0.2988 in 2010 and was at its lowest, 0.246, in 2017.
That places Malaysia 88th out of 174 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 14 years of available data.
Income inequality: Atkinson index in Malaysia, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 0.2988 | — |
| 2011 | 0.2988 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 0.2788 | -6.7% |
| 2013 | 0.2788 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 0.2483 | -10.9% |
| 2015 | 0.2483 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 0.2483 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 0.246 | -1.0% |
| 2018 | 0.246 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 0.2476 | +0.7% |
| 2020 | 0.2476 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 0.2476 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 0.2476 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 0.2476 | +0.0% |
Malaysia compared with similar countries
- Malaysia's 0.2476 is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.2515, 98% of the median. (51 countries reporting)
- Malaysia's 0.2476 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.2171, 1.1× the median. (29 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 0.264 | 0.246 | 0.2988 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.2476 | 0.2476 | 0.2476 | 4 |
Countries ranked near Malaysia
More poverty & inequality data for Malaysia
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 2 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.55 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 3,524 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate -1.48 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 12.57 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 12.6% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is income inequality: atkinson index in Malaysia?
- Income inequality: atkinson index in Malaysia was 0.2476 in 2023, according to UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest income inequality: atkinson index recorded in Malaysia?
- The highest recorded value was 0.2988 in 2010.
- What is the lowest income inequality: atkinson index recorded in Malaysia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.246 in 2017.
- How does Malaysia rank for income inequality: atkinson index?
- Malaysia ranks 88th out of 174 countries with data for 2023.
- Is income inequality: atkinson index rising or falling in Malaysia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 11.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Malaysia data come from?
- The figures come from UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Income inequality: Atkinson index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 14 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The Atkinson index measures inequality on a scale from 0 to 1. Higher values indicate higher inequality. Depending on the country and year, the data relates to income measured after taxes and benefits, or to consumption, per capita.