Malaysia vs Thailand

Malaysia and Thailand compared on 10 key figures from official sources. Each value is the latest one published for that country, so the year is shown with it.

• Thailand has about 2 times as many people as Malaysia: 71.6 million against 36 million in 2025.
• GDP per person in Malaysia ($13,125) is 63% higher than in Thailand ($8,057) in 2025.
• The economy grew faster in Malaysia (5.2%) than in Thailand (2.4%), a difference of 2.8 percentage points in 2025.
• Consumer prices rose faster in Malaysia (1.4%) than in Thailand (-0.1%), a difference of 1.5 percentage points in 2025.
• The unemployment rate was higher in Malaysia (3.8%) than in Thailand (0.8%), a difference of 3 percentage points in 2025.
• Life expectancy at birth is about the same in Malaysia (76.8 years) and Thailand (76.6 years) in 2024.
• The population of Thailand is older: half of its people are over 39.7 years, against 30.1 years in Malaysia in 2023.
• A larger share of people used the internet in Malaysia (98%) than in Thailand (90.9%), a difference of 7.1 percentage points in 2024.
• CO2 emissions per person in Malaysia (8.3 tonnes) are about 2.1 times as high as in Thailand (4 tonnes) in 2024.
• Forest covers a larger share of the land in Malaysia (57.7%) than in Thailand (38.7%), a difference of 19 percentage points in 2024.