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MALAYSIA VS ASEAN · LABOUR FORCE · 2025
How much of Malaysia's adult population participates in the labour force?
ILO modelled labour-force participation for ages 15+, distributed through the World Bank.
SHOW ME THE DATA2025 · labour-force participation · population ages 15+
VIEW DATA ASSame source · different visual lens
2025
1Cambodia82.4labour-force participation · population ages 15+
2Viet Nam72.8labour-force participation · population ages 15+
3Singapore69.7labour-force participation · population ages 15+
4Indonesia68labour-force participation · population ages 15+
5Timor-Leste67labour-force participation · population ages 15+
6Thailand66.7labour-force participation · population ages 15+
7Malaysia66.1labour-force participation · population ages 15+
8Lao PDR66.1labour-force participation · population ages 15+
9Brunei Darussalam64.2labour-force participation · population ages 15+
10Philippines61.4labour-force participation · population ages 15+
11Myanmar55.1labour-force participation · population ages 15+
IMEILO Modelled Estimates via World Banklabour-force participation · population ages 15+
SourceILO Modelled Estimates via World Bank ↗2025 same-year request · checked 3 Oct 2026HIGH CONFIDENCE
Method & notes
Malaysia is #7/11 in the verified 2025 ASEAN subset by labour-force participation.
METHOD & LIMITATIONSHow the numbers were calculated
PulseKita requests World Bank indicator SL.TLF.CACT.ZS for all 11 ASEAN members and fixes the comparison to 2025. The measure covers people aged 15+ who are employed or actively seeking work, based on ILO modelled estimates. Older observations are not carried forward.
- Malaysia's labour-force participation rate is about 66.1% in 2025, ranking #7/11 among ASEAN members returned for the same year.
- All requested ASEAN members returned a 2025 value.
- Labour-force participation is not the employment rate: unemployed people actively seeking work are still in the labour force.
- A higher participation rate is not automatically a better labour market; demographics, education, retirement patterns and household choices also matter.
Evidence trail
EVIDENCE CHAINtransformation inherited from methodology
- 1Declared sourceLabor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15+) (modeled ILO estimate)
- 2TransformationPulseKita requests World Bank indicator SL.TLF.CACT.ZS for all 11 ASEAN members and fixes the comparison to 2025. The measure covers people aged 15+ who are employed or actively seeking work, based on ILO modelled estimates. Older observations are not carried forward.
- 3Published visualRanked snapshot
Source
HIGH CONFIDENCEofficial primary
COVERAGE2025
UNITlabour-force participation · population ages 15+
SOURCEofficial publication
UPDATED2025 same-year request · checked 3 Oct 2026