- ISO 3166
MY- Main language + region
ms-MY- Currency
- MYR · Malaysian Ringgit
- Region
- APAC · SEA
Malaysia
Malaysia has 34.6M people, and 33.9M of them are online. Malay is the most widely spoken language at 75%, one of 9 languages CLDR lists here. Malay is official nationally. A product shipping here defaults to ms-MY.
Market summary
Each figure carries its own world scale, so it reads without a second market beside it.
People online
33.9M
0%world median 81%100%
98% of 34.6M people use the internet, per the World Bank's 2024 figure. Estimated by multiplying CLDR population by that share.
Income per person
$13,125
Higher than 56% of 213 territories
GDP per capita in current US dollars, World Bank Open Data, most recent reported year. A rough guide to spending power, not revenue.
Can pay online
89%
0%world median 71%100%
Adults aged 15 and over holding a bank or mobile-money account, World Bank Global Findex 2024. Below half means a card-only checkout excludes most of the market.
Languages
9
Malay 75% · English 21% · Chinese 17%
Languages CLDR records here with a share of 0.1% or more. 1 of them is official nationally.
English proficiency
581
Very lowVery high
High proficiency on the EF EPI 2025 scale. The sample is self-selected online test takers. It never enters any score on this site.
Adult literacy
93%
0%world median 95%100%
Share of adults who can read, as recorded in CLDR territory data. Low literacy shifts a product toward icons, audio, and video before another language.
What people speak
Shares include second languages, so totals can exceed 100%.
Most spoken in Malaysia
share of 34.6M people
- Malayofficial75%25.9M
- English21%7.3M
- Chinese17%5.9M
- Tamil4.2%1.5M
- Iban2.5%864.1K
- Javanese1.2%414.8K
- Negeri Sembilan Malay1.2%414.8K
- Central Dusun0.6%193.6K
Filled bars are nationally official languages. Bars are scaled to the largest language rather than to 100%. 1 more language sits below the top eight, at 0.2% combined.
CLDR records Malay in 5 territories and 40.2M speakers in total; Malaysia holds 64% of them, and the rest come with the same translation. The Malay profile maps the whole footprint.
Day-one requirements
What the interface needs for the main language spoken here (ms-MY).
Plural categories
1
Word-forms a translator writes for counted text. One form fits every count here.
Script family
Latin
Default system fonts cover this script on all major platforms.
Reading direction
Left-to-right
Standard. Use dir='auto' on user-generated content fields.
Date
21 April 2026
Short: 21/04/26
Time
6:30 PTG
Week starts Mon
Currency
RM 1,234.56
1,234.56 in MYR · Malaysian Ringgit