Brunei vs Malaysia
Brunei vs Malaysia: Urban population
Urban population in 2025: 75% in Brunei and 77.4% in Malaysia, by UN estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in Malaysia, by 2.4 percentage points, or 1.03 times that in Brunei.
% of people · UN
What the numbers say
- Malaysia has been higher since 2019, when it overtook Brunei.
- In 2025, Brunei ranked 81 and Malaysia ranked 74 of 229 countries, counting from the highest.
- The UN projection (World Urbanization Prospects 2025) puts Brunei at 87.9% and Malaysia at 91% in 2050.
Every year
% of people · UN
| Year | Brunei | Malaysia |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 75 | 77.4 |
| 2024 | 74.9 | 76.9 |
| 2023 | 74.8 | 76.4 |
| 2022 | 74.8 | 76 |
| 2021 | 74.8 | 75.5 |
| 2020 | 74.8 | 75.1 |
| 2019 | 74.8 | 74.8 |
| 2018 | 74.8 | 74.6 |
| 2017 | 74.9 | 74.2 |
| 2016 | 74.9 | 73.9 |
| 2015 | 75 | 73.4 |
| 2014 | 75.1 | 73 |
| 2013 | 75.2 | 72.5 |
| 2012 | 75.3 | 72 |
| 2011 | 75.3 | 71.4 |
| 2010 | 75.3 | 70.9 |
| 2009 | 75.1 | 70.3 |
| 2008 | 74.8 | 69.5 |
| 2007 | 74.4 | 68.8 |
| 2006 | 74 | 67.9 |
| 2005 | 73.6 | 67 |
| 2004 | 73.1 | 66.1 |
| 2003 | 72.6 | 65.1 |
| 2002 | 72.1 | 64.1 |
| 2001 | 71.7 | 63 |
| 2000 | 71.2 | 62 |
| 1999 | 70.8 | 60.9 |
| 1998 | 70.3 | 59.7 |
| 1997 | 69.8 | 58.5 |
| 1996 | 69.3 | 57.2 |
| 1995 | 68.8 | 55.9 |
| 1994 | 68.3 | 54.6 |
| 1993 | 67.7 | 53.2 |
| 1992 | 67.1 | 51.9 |
| 1991 | 66.5 | 50.5 |
| 1990 | 65.8 | 49 |
| 1989 | 64.8 | 47.4 |
| 1988 | 63.8 | 45.8 |
| 1987 | 62.7 | 44 |
| 1986 | 61.7 | 42.3 |
| 1985 | 60.8 | 40.6 |
| 1984 | 60.1 | 39 |
| 1983 | 59.6 | 37.5 |
| 1982 | 59.4 | 36.2 |
| 1981 | 59.4 | 35.1 |
| 1980 | 59.5 | 34.2 |
| 1979 | 59.9 | 33.6 |
| 1978 | 60.4 | 33 |
| 1977 | 61 | 32.4 |
| 1976 | 61.6 | 31.9 |
| 1975 | 62.2 | 31.4 |
| 1974 | 62.8 | 30.9 |
| 1973 | 63.2 | 30.5 |
| 1972 | 63.5 | 30.1 |
| 1971 | 63.6 | 29.8 |
| 1970 | 63.2 | 29.4 |
| 1969 | 62.3 | 29.1 |
| 1968 | 60.8 | 28.8 |
| 1967 | 59 | 28.5 |
| 1966 | 56.9 | 28.1 |
| 1965 | 54.6 | 27.8 |
| 1964 | 52.2 | 27.5 |
| 1963 | 49.8 | 27.2 |
| 1962 | 47.4 | 26.8 |
| 1961 | 45.3 | 26.5 |
| 1960 | 43.4 | 26.1 |
| 1959 | 41.6 | 25.7 |
| 1958 | 39.8 | 25.2 |
| 1957 | 38.1 | 24.7 |
| 1956 | 36.3 | 24.2 |
| 1955 | 34.6 | 23.7 |
| 1954 | 32.9 | 23.1 |
| 1953 | 31.2 | 22.5 |
| 1952 | 29.5 | 21.9 |
| 1951 | 27.8 | 21.3 |
| 1950 | 26.1 | 20.6 |
UN projection (World Urbanization Prospects 2025) · 2026–2050
| Year | Brunei | Malaysia |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 75.2 | 77.9 |
| 2027 | 75.3 | 78.4 |
| 2028 | 75.6 | 78.9 |
| 2029 | 75.8 | 79.4 |
| 2030 | 76.1 | 79.9 |
| 2031 | 76.4 | 80.4 |
| 2032 | 76.7 | 80.9 |
| 2033 | 77.1 | 81.4 |
| 2034 | 77.5 | 81.9 |
| 2035 | 78 | 82.4 |
| 2036 | 78.4 | 83 |
| 2037 | 78.9 | 83.5 |
| 2038 | 79.4 | 84 |
| 2039 | 80 | 84.6 |
| 2040 | 80.6 | 85.1 |
| 2041 | 81.2 | 85.7 |
| 2042 | 81.8 | 86.3 |
| 2043 | 82.5 | 86.8 |
| 2044 | 83.2 | 87.4 |
| 2045 | 83.9 | 88 |
| 2046 | 84.7 | 88.6 |
| 2047 | 85.4 | 89.2 |
| 2048 | 86.2 | 89.8 |
| 2049 | 87.1 | 90.4 |
| 2050 | 87.9 | 91 |
Each country on its own
Good to know
- The share of people living in places the country itself counts as urban.
- Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025.
- The dashed line is the UN projection (World Urbanization Prospects 2025), a scenario rather than a forecast.
- Ranks count the 229 countries with a value in 2025, highest first.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time
Brunei vs Malaysia
Health
- Life expectancyBrunei: 75.3 years in 2023Malaysia: 76.7 years in 2023
- Child mortalityBrunei: 1 per 100 live births in 2024Malaysia: 0.8 per 100 live births in 2024
- Infant mortalityBrunei: 8.1 per 1,000 live births in 2023Malaysia: 6.4 per 1,000 live births in 2023
- DepressionBrunei: 2.56% in 2017Malaysia: 3.52% in 2017
- Suicide rateBrunei: 6.2 per 100,000 people in 2017Malaysia: 7.8 per 100,000 people in 2017
People
- PopulationBrunei: 458,900 people in 2023Malaysia: 35.1 million people in 2023
- Population growthBrunei: 0.84% a year in 2023Malaysia: 1.24% a year in 2023
- Fertility rateBrunei: 1.75 births per woman in 2023Malaysia: 1.55 births per woman in 2023
- Median ageBrunei: 31.8 years in 2023Malaysia: 30.1 years in 2023
- People aged 65 and overBrunei: 6.5% in 2023Malaysia: 7.5% in 2023
- Net migration rateBrunei: 0 per 1,000 people in 2023Malaysia: 5.2 per 1,000 people in 2023
Economy
Education
Conflict
Military
- Military spendingBrunei: 3.65% of GDP in 2024Malaysia: 1.04% of GDP in 2025
- Military spending in US dollarsBrunei: $560M in 2024Malaysia: $4.55B in 2025
- Military spending per personBrunei: $1,216 in 2024Malaysia: $138 in 2025
- Military share of state spendingBrunei: 12.2% of government spending in 2024Malaysia: 4.4% of government spending in 2025
- Armed forces personnelBrunei: 8,000 people in 2020Malaysia: 136,000 people in 2020
- National powerBrunei: 0.02% of world capability in 2022Malaysia: 0.46% of world capability in 2022
- Armed forces, share of workersBrunei: 3.57% of the labour force in 2020Malaysia: 0.81% of the labour force in 2020
- Arms importsBrunei: 28 million TIV in 2024Malaysia: 7 million TIV in 2024
- Arms exportsBrunei: 12 million TIV in 2016Malaysia: 20 million TIV in 2024