Malaysia's population in the largest city (% of urban population) was 32.32% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 2.45 percentage points from 29.87% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 32.32% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 31.44% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 29.87% | 2015 |
| Highest | 32.32% | 2025 |
| Lowest | 15.06% | 1970 |
| Average since 2016 | 31.43% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 16.56% | 1960 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Malaysia's population in the largest city (% of urban population) rose 0.09 percentage points on 2024 (from 32.23% to 32.32%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.22 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.27 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 0.77 percentage points in 2000 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.22 percentage points in 1961. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.25 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 97% of the movement over 10 observed years.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2025, Malaysia had the 69th highest value of the 153 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Malaysia | 32.32% | 2025 |
| World | 16.16% | 2025 |
| East Asia & Pacific | 11.32% | 2025 |
| Upper middle income | 12.27% | 2025 |
Closest to Malaysia in the 2025 ranking
What this measures
Population in largest city is the percentage of a country's urban population living in that country's largest metropolitan area.
Limitations: Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverage. There is no consistent and universally accepted standard for distinguishing urban from rural areas, in part because of the wide variety of situations across countries. Most countries use an urban classification related to the size or characteristics of settlements. Some define urban areas based on the presence of certain infrastructure and services. And other countries designate urban areas based on administrative arrangements.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 66 values
| Year | Population in the largest city (% of urban population) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 32.32 |
| 2024 | 32.23 |
| 2023 | 32.11 |
| 2022 | 31.94 |
| 2021 | 31.72 |
| 2020 | 31.44 |
| 2019 | 31.09 |
| 2018 | 30.82 |
| 2017 | 30.47 |
| 2016 | 30.16 |
| 2015 |
Population in the largest city (% of urban population) in nearby economies
- Australia — 22.26% (2025)
- Cambodia — 33.06% (2025)
- China — 3.27% (2025)
- Hong Kong SAR, China — 100% (2025)
- Indonesia — 6.86% (2025)
- Japan — 32.53% (2025)
- Korea, Dem. People's Rep. — 18.82% (2025)
- Korea, Rep. — 23.9% (2025)
- Lao PDR — 23.82% (2025)
More environment data for Malaysia
- Population in largest city — 9 million (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million — 9 million (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million (% of total population) — 25.02% (2025)
- Rural population — 8.13 million (2025)
- Rural population (% of total population) — 22.61% (2025)
- Urban population — 27.85 million (2025)
- Urban population (% of total population) — 77.39% (2025)
- Aquaculture production (metric tons) — 512,360 (2024)
- Capture fisheries production (metric tons) — 1.41 million (2024)
- Total fisheries production (metric tons)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Malaysia's population in the largest city (% of urban population)?
- 32.32% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1960?
- It is up 15.76 percentage points from 16.56% in 1960. The highest value was 32.32% in 2025 and the lowest 15.06% in 1970.
- How does Malaysia rank?
- 69th highest of 153 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in population in the largest city (% of urban population) unusual for Malaysia?
- In 2025, Malaysia's population in the largest city (% of urban population) rose 0.09 percentage points on 2024 (from 32.23% to 32.32%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.22 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.27 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator EN.URB.LCTY.UR.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Urbanization Prospects 2018, United Nations (UN), uri: https://population.un.org/wup/, publisher: UN Population Division, date published: 2018 Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.
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