Malaysia’s coastline is 36% longer than Vietnam’s

Malaysia: 4,675 km (2026 edition) · Vietnam: 3,444 km (2026 edition)

Malaysia’s highest peak towers 951 m above Vietnam’s

Malaysia: 4,095 m (2026 edition) · Vietnam: 3,144 m (2026 edition)

Farmland covers 39% of Vietnam, versus 25% of Malaysia

Malaysia: 24.8% (2024) · Vietnam: 39.2% (2024)

Vietnam has 2.8 times as many people as Malaysia

Malaysia: 36 million (2025) · Vietnam: 102 million (2025)

Vietnam is 3 times as densely populated as Malaysia

Malaysia: 110 per km² (2025) · Vietnam: 324 per km² (2025)

The typical person in Vietnam is 2.4 years older than in Malaysia

Malaysia: 30.1 years (2023) · Vietnam: 32.4 years (2023)

Women in Vietnam have 0.4 more children on average than in Malaysia

Malaysia: 1.54 children per woman (2024) · Vietnam: 1.9 children per woman (2024)

9.5% of people in Vietnam are 65 or older, versus 8.0% in Malaysia

Malaysia: 8% (2025) · Vietnam: 9.5% (2025)

Malaysia hosts 32,619 times as many refugees per resident as Vietnam

Malaysia: 4.2 per 1,000 (2025) · Vietnam: 0.00013 per 1,000 (2025)

Vietnam has produced 0.1 Nobel laureates per 10 million people, Malaysia none

Malaysia: 0 (2026) · Vietnam: 0.1 (2026)

Malaysia has 2 official languages, Vietnam 1

Malaysia: 2 (2026) · Vietnam: 1 (2026)

Vietnam’s economy is 9% larger than Malaysia’s

Malaysia: $472 billion (2025) · Vietnam: $515 billion (2025)

Malaysia produces 2.3 times as much per person as Vietnam

Malaysia: Int$41,498 (2025) · Vietnam: Int$18,089 (2025)

Income is more unequally shared in Malaysia than in Vietnam (Gini 4.6 points higher)

Malaysia: 40.7 (2021) · Vietnam: 36.1 (2022)

1.6% of people in Vietnam live on less than $3 a day, versus 0% in Malaysia

Malaysia: 0% (2021) · Vietnam: 1.6% (2022)

Unemployment is 3.8% in Malaysia, versus 1.5% in Vietnam

Malaysia: 3.8% (2025) · Vietnam: 1.5% (2025)

Vietnam spends 2.2% of its GDP on the military, Malaysia 1.0%

Malaysia: 1% (2025) · Vietnam: 2.2% (2025)

Malaysia: 12.4% (2024) · Vietnam: no data

Malaysia’s price level (US = 100) is 1.1× Vietnam’s

Malaysia: 32% (2025) · Vietnam: 28% (2025)

Malaysia spends 2.3 times as much on health per person as Vietnam

Malaysia: $450 (2023) · Vietnam: $197 (2023)

A baby in Vietnam is 71% more likely to die before turning one than in Malaysia

Malaysia: 7 per 1,000 (2024) · Vietnam: 12 per 1,000 (2024)

Malaysia has 2.1 times as many doctors per person as Vietnam

Malaysia: 2.3 per 1,000 (2023) · Vietnam: 1.1 per 1,000 (2021)

Vietnam has 29% more hospital beds per person than Malaysia

Malaysia: 2 per 1,000 (2023) · Vietnam: 2.5 per 1,000 (2017)

The suicide rate in Vietnam is 2 times that in Malaysia

Malaysia: 5 per 100k (2023) · Vietnam: 10 per 100k (2023)

24% of adults in Malaysia are obese, versus 2.5% in Vietnam

Malaysia: 23.6% (2024) · Vietnam: 2.5% (2024)

21% of adults in Vietnam smoke, versus 17% in Malaysia

Malaysia: 16.9% (2024) · Vietnam: 21.1% (2024)

People in Vietnam rate their lives 0.42 points higher than in Malaysia

Malaysia: 6.01 (2025) · Vietnam: 6.43 (2025)

Adults in Vietnam drink 13 times as much alcohol as in Malaysia

Malaysia: 0.8 litres (2023) · Vietnam: 10.7 litres (2023)

Malaysia has 14% more meat per person than Vietnam

Malaysia: 69.1 kg (2023) · Vietnam: 60.5 kg (2023)

Vietnam has 160 kcal more food per person per day than Malaysia

Malaysia: 2,927 kcal (2023) · Vietnam: 3,086 kcal (2023)

Workers in Malaysia put in 147 more hours a year than in Vietnam

Malaysia: 2,308 hours (2023) · Vietnam: 2,160 hours (2023)

Adults in Malaysia went to school 2.1 years longer than in Vietnam

Malaysia: 11.1 years (2023) · Vietnam: 9 years (2023)

Malaysia welcomed 3.6 times as many tourists per resident as Vietnam (2019)

Malaysia: 0.29 (2022) · Vietnam: 0.08 (2015)

Vietnam has 3 more World Heritage sites than Malaysia (9 against 6)

Malaysia: 6 (2026) · Vietnam: 9 (2026)

Malaysia has won 15 Olympic medals, Vietnam 5

Malaysia: 15 (2026 edition) · Vietnam: 5 (2026 edition)

98% of people in Malaysia are online, versus 84% in Vietnam

Malaysia: 98% (2024) · Vietnam: 84% (2024)

Home internet in Malaysia is 10% faster than in Vietnam

Malaysia: 269 Mbps (2026) · Vietnam: 244 Mbps (2026)

Malaysia and Vietnam are practically level

Malaysia: 100% (2024) · Vietnam: 100% (2024)

77% of people in Malaysia live in cities, versus 39% in Vietnam

Malaysia: 77% (2025) · Vietnam: 39% (2025)

Malaysia has 140 mobile subscriptions per 100 people, Vietnam 128

Malaysia: 140 (2024) · Vietnam: 128 (2024)

Vietnam’s railway network is 91% longer than Malaysia’s

Malaysia: 1,655 km (2021) · Vietnam: 3,159 km (2021)

Airlines from Malaysia fly 2.4 times as many passengers per resident as those from Vietnam

Malaysia: 1.3 (2023) · Vietnam: 0.54 (2023)

Forest covers 58% of Malaysia, but only 47% of Vietnam

Malaysia: 57.7% (2024) · Vietnam: 47.1% (2024)

The average person in Malaysia emits 2.2 times as much CO₂ as someone in Vietnam

Malaysia: 8.2 t (2024) · Vietnam: 3.7 t (2024)

45% of Vietnam’s electricity is renewable, versus 21% in Malaysia

Malaysia: 20.7% (2025) · Vietnam: 45.4% (2025)

The air in Vietnam carries 67% more fine dust than in Malaysia

Malaysia: 15.3 µg/m³ (2024) · Vietnam: 25.6 µg/m³ (2024)

Malaysia: 0.7 per 100k (2023) · Vietnam: no data

Roads in Vietnam are 14% deadlier than in Malaysia

Malaysia: 16.2 per 100k (2023) · Vietnam: 18.4 per 100k (2023)

Malaysia is on average 1.6 °C warmer than Vietnam

Malaysia: 26°C (2016–2025 avg) · Vietnam: 24.4°C (2016–2025 avg)

Malaysia gets 45% more rain than Vietnam

Malaysia: 3,081 mm (2016–2025 avg) · Vietnam: 2,132 mm (2016–2025 avg)