8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Asia / South-Eastern Asia

Born in Malaysia

About 1 in 303 people born in 2023 started life in Malaysia. A boy can expect to live 74 years and a girl 79, up from 48 and 49 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 303
odds of being born here
436,000 births · Ranked 59th of 230
74 / 79
years of life, boys / girls
Was 48 / 49 in 1950
$15,964
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 61st of 203 · extrapolated
76%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 28 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 170 in every 1,000 births to 7.8.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
050100150200195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth74.3 years for boys, 79.4 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 57.8 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year181,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people2.3World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles96%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.3%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year97 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.4 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.6, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.55UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth31.0 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 47 and the poorest fifth 6.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2021
6%Poorest fifth
10%Second
15%Middle
22%Fourth
47%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $15,964 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth47% / 6% (2021)World Bank PIP
Unemployment3.9% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises2.5% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person2.3% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming10% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed25% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment79% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Kuala Lumpur, with 1.5 million people.

76%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
98%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Kuala Lumpur1.5 million
Johor Bahru858,118
Kampung Baru Subang833,571
Petaling Jaya807,879
Ipoh759,952
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Malay75%
English21%
Chinese17%
Tamil4%
Iban3%
Malay is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Selangor9.3 million
Johor7.0 million
Kuala Lumpur3.5 million
Perak2.6 million
Kedah2.5 million
Sabah2.0 million
Sarawak2.0 million
Penang1.9 million
Kelantan1.2 million
Pahang1.1 million

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

All 16 regions
  • Selangor9.3 million
  • Johor7.0 million
  • Kuala Lumpur3.5 million
  • Perak2.6 million
  • Kedah2.5 million
  • Sabah2.0 million
  • Sarawak2.0 million
  • Penang1.9 million
  • Kelantan1.2 million
  • Pahang1.1 million
  • Melaka1.0 million
  • Negeri Sembilan927,915
  • Terengganu704,032
  • Labuan95,120
  • Perlis83,869
  • Putrajaya50,000

People on the move

About 6.8% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Singapore, Bangladesh, Australia.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Singapore1,553,249
Bangladesh274,253
Australia181,202
Residents born abroad10.7% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 6.8% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostSingapore (1.6 million), Bangladesh (274,253), Australia (181,202)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $8.9 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

19% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 10%.

19%
of older people receive a pension (2023)
10%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2019)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 202437,351Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19502; the deadliest, in 2015, killed about 18 people (magnitude 6)NOAA NCEI
Deaths in organized violence70 between 2013 and 2013UCDP

Now live it.

Born in Malaysia, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Malaysia

Elsewhere in Asia

All countries

How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences