Poverty: Share of population living on less than $30 a day in Malaysia
Malaysia: Poverty: Share of population living on less than $30 a day was 50.9% in 2021. ▼ Falling
Poverty: Share of population living on less than $30 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
In 2021, poverty: share of population living on less than $30 a day in Malaysia stood at 50.9%. That is the lowest value across all 14 years on record.
That represents a change of down 6.4% on the previous year and down 29.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, poverty: share of population living on less than $30 a day in Malaysia peaked at 91.7% in 1989 and was at its lowest, 50.9%, in 2021.
Malaysia ranks 85th of 120 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 14 years of available data.
Poverty: Share of population living on less than $30 a day in Malaysia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 90.7% | — |
| 1987 | 91.2% | +0.5% |
| 1989 | 91.7% | +0.6% |
| 1992 | 89.0% | -2.9% |
| 1995 | 88.4% | -0.7% |
| 1997 | 83.1% | -6.0% |
| 2003 | 84.0% | +1.1% |
| 2006 | 81.5% | -3.0% |
| 2008 | 79.9% | -2.0% |
| 2011 | 72.5% | -9.3% |
| 2013 | 66.4% | -8.3% |
| 2015 | 60.3% | -9.3% |
| 2018 | 54.3% | -9.8% |
| 2021 | 50.9% | -6.4% |
Malaysia compared with similar countries
- Malaysia's 50.9% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 90.5%, 56% of the median. (35 countries reporting)
- Malaysia's 50.9% is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 89.0%, 57% of the median. (11 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 91.2% | 90.7% | 91.7% | 3 |
| 1990s | 86.8% | 83.1% | 89.0% | 3 |
| 2000s | 81.8% | 79.9% | 84.0% | 3 |
| 2010s | 63.4% | 54.3% | 72.5% | 4 |
| 2020s | 50.9% | 50.9% | 50.9% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Malaysia
More poverty & inequality data for Malaysia
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 2 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ 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: share of population living on less than $30 a day in Malaysia?
- Poverty: share of population living on less than $30 a day in Malaysia was 50.9% in 2021, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest poverty: share of population living on less than $30 a day recorded in Malaysia?
- The highest recorded value was 91.7% in 1989.
- What is the lowest poverty: share of population living on less than $30 a day recorded in Malaysia?
- The lowest recorded value was 50.9% in 2021.
- How does Malaysia rank for poverty: share of population living on less than $30 a day?
- Malaysia ranks 85th out of 120 countries with data for 2021.
- Is poverty: share of population living on less than $30 a day rising or falling in Malaysia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 29.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- 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: Share of population living on less than $30 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
Percentage of population living in households with an income or consumption below $30 per day.