Employment in Malaysia

Malaysia: Employment was 15,392 in 2022. β–² Rising

Latest (2022)
15,392
Change on year
up 2.2%
World rank
34th
of 174 countries
All-time high
17,748
in 2011
All-time low
2,640
in 1970
Years of data
42
1970–2022

Employment in Malaysia, 1970–2022

5.0k10.0k15.0k20.0k1970199620221970: 2.6k1980: 4.8k1981: 5.1k1982: 5.2k1983: 5.5k1984: 5.6k1985: 5.7k1986: 5.8k1987: 6.0k1988: 6.2k1989: 6.4k1990: 6.7k1991: 6.1k1992: 7.0k1993: 7.4k1995: 7.6k1996: 8.4k1997: 8.6k1998: 8.6k1999: 8.8k2000: 9.3k2001: 9.4k2002: 9.5k2003: 9.9k2004: 10.0k2005: 10.0k2006: 10.3k2007: 10.5k2008: 10.7k2009: 11.0k2010: 11.3k2011: 17.7k2012: 12.5k2013: 13.4k2015: 14.1k2016: 14.2k2017: 14.5k2018: 14.8k2019: 15.1k2020: 15.0k2021: 15.1k2022: 15.4k

Source: International Labour Organization.

Analysis

The most recent figure for employment in Malaysia is 15,392, measured in 2022.

The figure is up 2.2% on the previous year and up 22.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, employment in Malaysia peaked at 17,748 in 2011 and was at its lowest, 2,640, in 1970.

Malaysia ranks 34th of 174 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 42 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 2,640 2,640 2,640 1
1980s 5,609 4,787 6,391 10
1990s 7,696 6,098 8,838 9
2000s 10,059 9,269 11,020 10
2010s 14,166 11,291 17,748 9
2020s 15,138 14,957 15,392 3

Countries ranked near Malaysia

  1. 31 Poland 17,291 compare
  2. 32 South Africa 17,128 compare
  3. 33 Ukraine 15,693 compare
  4. 35 Australia 14,608 compare
  5. 36 Venezuela, RepΓΊblica Bolivariana de 14,580 compare
  6. 37 Angola 13,985 compare

See the full ranking of 261 places β†’

More work & labour data for Malaysia

All data for Malaysia β†’

Frequently asked questions

What is employment in Malaysia?
Employment in Malaysia was 15,392 in 2022, according to International Labour Organization.
What is the highest employment recorded in Malaysia?
The highest recorded value was 17,748 in 2011.
What is the lowest employment recorded in Malaysia?
The lowest recorded value was 2,640 in 1970.
How does Malaysia rank for employment?
Malaysia ranks 34th out of 174 countries with data for 2022.
Is employment rising or falling in Malaysia?
Over the last ten years it is up 22.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Malaysia data come from?
The figures come from International Labour Organization, published as part of Employment (previous ILO definition - ICLS13). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV Β· JSON β€” 42 observations, free to reuse under ILO Terms of Use (attribution required).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Employment in Malaysia. Statizoid, drawing on International Labour Organization. Retrieved 19 August 2026, from https://labour.statizoid.com/stat/employment-previous-ilo-definition-icls13/malaysia/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under ILO Terms of Use (attribution required); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://labour.statizoid.com/stat/employment-previous-ilo-definition-icls13/malaysia/">Employment in Malaysia</a> β€” Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Employment (previous ILO definition - ICLS13)
Source
International Labour Organization
Licence
ILO Terms of Use (attribution required)
Coverage
261 places, 6,860 data points, 1947–2026
Last refreshed