← Stories
EconomyRanked snapshot2025

MALAYSIA VS ASEAN · INDUSTRIAL WORKFORCE · 2025

How much of Malaysia's workforce is employed in industry?

ILO modelled employment in industry as a share of total employment, distributed through the World Bank.

ILO Modelled Estimates via World Bank2025 same-year request · checked 3 Oct 2026
SHOW ME THE DATA2025 · employment in industry · % of total employment
VIEW DATA ASSame source · different visual lens
PULSEKITA SNAPSHOT2025
RANKED SNAPSHOT
2025
1Viet Nam34.8employment in industry · % of total employment
2Cambodia28.9employment in industry · % of total employment
3Malaysia26employment in industry · % of total employment
4Indonesia22.5employment in industry · % of total employment
5Thailand22.2employment in industry · % of total employment
6Brunei Darussalam20.4employment in industry · % of total employment
7Philippines20employment in industry · % of total employment
8Myanmar18.2employment in industry · % of total employment
9Singapore14employment in industry · % of total employment
10Lao PDR7.4employment in industry · % of total employment
11Timor-Leste3.8employment in industry · % of total employment
IMEILO Modelled Estimates via World Bankemployment in industry · % of total employment
SourceILO Modelled Estimates via World Bank ↗2025 same-year request · checked 3 Oct 2026HIGH CONFIDENCE
Method & notes
IN BRIEF

Malaysia is #3/11 in the verified 2025 ASEAN subset by industry employment share.

METHOD & LIMITATIONS

How the numbers were calculated

PulseKita requests World Bank indicator SL.IND.EMPL.ZS for all 11 ASEAN members and fixes the comparison to 2025. The source is the ILO Modelled Estimates database. Older observations are not carried forward.

  • Industry accounts for about 26.0% of Malaysia's employment in 2025, ranking #3/11 among ASEAN members returned for the same year.
  • All requested ASEAN members returned a 2025 value.
  • Industry employment is broader than manufacturing alone; it also includes activities such as construction, mining and utilities under the source classification.
  • A larger industry employment share is a structural measure, not a score of job quality, wages or productivity.

Evidence trail

EVIDENCE CHAINtransformation inherited from methodology
  1. 1
    Declared sourceEmployment in industry (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate)
  2. 2
    TransformationPulseKita requests World Bank indicator SL.IND.EMPL.ZS for all 11 ASEAN members and fixes the comparison to 2025. The source is the ILO Modelled Estimates database. Older observations are not carried forward.
  3. 3
    Published visualRanked snapshot

Source

HIGH CONFIDENCEofficial primary
COVERAGE2025
UNITemployment in industry · % of total employment
SOURCEofficial publication
UPDATED2025 same-year request · checked 3 Oct 2026
RELATED STORIES

More stories in Economy

Economy · TimelineHASiL e-Invoice checks: RM1.4b → RM3.5b → RM4.07b previously unreported income

Three 2026 HASiL compliance snapshots from the e-Invoice programme.

Open →
Economy · Animated raceMalaysia vs ASEAN FDI inflows, 2025

Official Invest ASEAN / UNCTAD inward FDI flows across all 11 ASEAN members.

Open →
Economy · Animated raceMalaysia vs ASEAN labour productivity, 2025

World Bank GDP per person employed in constant 2021 PPP dollars, same-year observations only.

Open →
Economy · Animated raceMalaysia vs ASEAN labour-force participation, 2025

ILO modelled labour-force participation for ages 15+ across same-year ASEAN observations.

Open →