Land use in Malaysia
Malaysia: Land use was 8.24 million hectares in 2023. ▲ Rising
Land use in Malaysia, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
The most recent figure for land use in Malaysia is 8.24 million hectares, measured in 2023.
The figure is down 0.5% on the previous year and up 6.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, land use in Malaysia peaked at 8.29 million hectares in 2016 and was at its lowest, 2.86 million hectares, in 1961.
That places Malaysia 40th out of 223 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 63 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 3.20 million hectares | 2.86 million hectares | 3.52 million hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 4.08 million hectares | 3.65 million hectares | 4.58 million hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 5.31 million hectares | 4.66 million hectares | 6.45 million hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 6.62 million hectares | 6.48 million hectares | 6.71 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 6.80 million hectares | 6.65 million hectares | 6.93 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 7.91 million hectares | 7.10 million hectares | 8.29 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 8.28 million hectares | 8.24 million hectares | 8.29 million hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Malaysia
More environment data for Malaysia
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 332.17 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 9.34 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 3.89 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.0205 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 9.39 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0252 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 26.26 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0898 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.3735 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 12.28 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is land use in Malaysia?
- Land use in Malaysia was 8.24 million hectares in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest land use recorded in Malaysia?
- The highest recorded value was 8.29 million hectares in 2016.
- What is the lowest land use recorded in Malaysia?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.86 million hectares in 1961.
- How does Malaysia rank for land use?
- Malaysia ranks 40th out of 223 countries with data for 2023.
- Is land use rising or falling in Malaysia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Malaysia data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Land use. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 63 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).