Measure
Snapshot
Malaysia
Ranked 11 of 27 for comprehensive power, with an overall score of 19.6 out of 100.
Gained 1.6 points (+9% change) in overall score in 2024.
Measure
Analysis
Malaysia is a middle power in Asia.
The country’s overall score increased by 1.6 points. In Southeast Asia, it is the fourth-most powerful country after Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.
Malaysia performs best in the cultural influence measure, placing 6th.
Malaysia’s lowest ranking is for its military capability, where it places 16th. Its score for defence networks declined by three rankings to 14th in 2024, reflecting its more cautious non-aligned position in the regional security architecture.
Under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s leadership, Malaysia’s diplomatic influence rose by 9.1 points, gaining one ranking to reach 9th place for this measure.
Malaysia exerts more influence in the region than expected given its available resources, as indicated by the country’s positive power gap score, which increased in 2024.
Read more analysis in the Key Findings report. Explore further results in the Scores section.
Annual changes
Bilateral Influence
Bilateral trade, current dollars (2022)
Countries that influence Malaysia
Globally, which countries does Malaysia do most of its trade with?
Countries influenced by Malaysia
Which countries in the region rely most on trade with Malaysia?
Scores
Comprehensive power
A country’s weighted average across eight measures of power
11th
19.6
Rank
Change
Trend
Score