Compare
Malaysia vs Vietnam
How Malaysia and Vietnam compare on 38 measures, from 1900 to 2025. The main differences:
- Life expectancy · In 2023, Malaysia was higher: 76.7 years against 74.6 years
- GDP per person · In 2025, Malaysia was higher: $12,350 against $4,308
- Population · In 2023, Vietnam was higher: 100 million people against 35.1 million people
- Military spending · In 2025, Vietnam was higher: 2.15% of GDP against 1.04% of GDP
- CO₂ per person · In 2024, Malaysia was higher: 8.32 tonnes against 4.27 tonnes
Every measure
Health
- Life expectancyMalaysia: 76.7 years in 2023Vietnam: 74.6 years in 2023
- Child mortalityMalaysia: 0.8 per 100 live births in 2024Vietnam: 1.7 per 100 live births in 2024
- Infant mortalityMalaysia: 6.4 per 1,000 live births in 2023Vietnam: 15.1 per 1,000 live births in 2023
- Safe drinking waterMalaysia: 93.9% in 2022Vietnam: 57.8% in 2022
- DepressionMalaysia: 3.52% in 2017Vietnam: 2.88% in 2017
- Suicide rateMalaysia: 7.8 per 100,000 people in 2017Vietnam: 7.4 per 100,000 people in 2017
People
- PopulationMalaysia: 35.1 million people in 2023Vietnam: 100 million people in 2023
- Population growthMalaysia: 1.24% a year in 2023Vietnam: 0.64% a year in 2023
- Fertility rateMalaysia: 1.55 births per woman in 2023Vietnam: 1.91 births per woman in 2023
- Urban populationMalaysia: 77.4% in 2025Vietnam: 38.8% in 2025
- Median ageMalaysia: 30.1 years in 2023Vietnam: 32.4 years in 2023
- People aged 65 and overMalaysia: 7.5% in 2023Vietnam: 8.6% in 2023
- Net migration rateMalaysia: 5.2 per 1,000 people in 2023Vietnam: -0.8 per 1,000 people in 2023
Economy
Education
Politics
Conflict
Military
- Military spendingMalaysia: 1.04% of GDP in 2025Vietnam: 2.15% of GDP in 2025
- Military spending in US dollarsMalaysia: $4.55B in 2025Vietnam: $10.9B in 2025
- Military spending per personMalaysia: $138 in 2025Vietnam: $104 in 2025
- Military share of state spendingMalaysia: 4.4% of government spending in 2025Vietnam: 9.9% of government spending in 2025
- Armed forces personnelMalaysia: 136,000 people in 2020Vietnam: 522,000 people in 2020
- National powerMalaysia: 0.46% of world capability in 2022Vietnam: 1.11% of world capability in 2022
- Armed forces, share of workersMalaysia: 0.81% of the labour force in 2020Vietnam: 0.95% of the labour force in 2020
- Arms importsMalaysia: 7 million TIV in 2024Vietnam: 177 million TIV in 2025
- Arms exportsMalaysia: 20 million TIV in 2024Vietnam: 10 million TIV in 2018
Climate
Technology and environment
Each country on its own
Good to know
- Sources: UN, Gapminder and UN IGME, WHO/UNICEF, IHME, World Bank, IMF, UNESCO, V-Dem, UCDP, SIPRI, IISS, Correlates of War, ERA5, CMIP6, EDGAR, ITU and FAO. Each measure’s page names its own and what it counts.
- Values are drawn on today’s borders. Years without a published value are left empty, never filled in.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time