Poverty gap index at $3 a day in Malaysia
Malaysia: Poverty gap index at $3 a day was 0.0% in 2021. ◆ Volatile
Poverty gap index at $3 a day in Malaysia, 1984–2021
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Malaysia recorded 0.0% for poverty gap index at $3 a day in 2021. That is the lowest value across all 14 years on record.
The figure is down 87.2% on the previous year and down 98.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, poverty gap index at $3 a day in Malaysia peaked at 1.0% in 1984 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 2021.
Malaysia ranks 114th of 120 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Poverty gap index at $3 a day in Malaysia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 1.0% | — |
| 1987 | 0.7% | -26.7% |
| 1989 | 0.5% | -29.1% |
| 1992 | 0.6% | +8.3% |
| 1995 | 0.7% | +15.5% |
| 1997 | 0.1% | -86.8% |
| 2003 | 0.7% | +683.6% |
| 2006 | 0.4% | -48.0% |
| 2008 | 0.3% | -14.4% |
| 2011 | 0.1% | -80.8% |
| 2013 | 0.0% | -69.7% |
| 2015 | 0.0% | -54.0% |
| 2018 | 0.0% | -29.8% |
| 2021 | 0.0% | -87.2% |
Malaysia compared with similar countries
- Malaysia's 0.0% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.4%, 0% of the median. (35 countries reporting)
- Malaysia's 0.0% is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.4%, 0% of the median. (11 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Poverty gap index at $3 a day in Malaysia changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | +683.6% | 0.1% | 0.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.8% | 0.5% | 1.0% | 3 |
| 1990s | 0.4% | 0.1% | 0.7% | 3 |
| 2000s | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.7% | 3 |
| 2010s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 4 |
| 2020s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Malaysia
More poverty & inequality data for Malaysia
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 2 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ 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 poverty gap index at $3 a day in Malaysia?
- Poverty gap index at $3 a day in Malaysia was 0.0% in 2021, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest poverty gap index at $3 a day recorded in Malaysia?
- The highest recorded value was 1.0% in 1984.
- What is the lowest poverty gap index at $3 a day recorded in Malaysia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 2021.
- How does Malaysia rank for poverty gap index at $3 a day?
- Malaysia ranks 114th out of 120 countries with data for 2021.
- Is poverty gap index at $3 a day rising or falling in Malaysia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 98.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Malaysia data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Poverty gap index at $3 a day. 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 poverty gap index is a poverty measure that reflects both the prevalence and the depth of poverty. It is calculated as the share of population in poverty multiplied by the average shortfall from the poverty line (expressed as a % of the poverty line).