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Malaysia Digital Marketing Statistics 2021

Keep up to date with Malaysia's latest trends and statistics.

General Internet Statistics

  • Malaysians netizen use the internet for various purposes:

Chat apps: 97%

Social Networking Apps: 70%

Entertainment or video apps: 55%

Games: 57%
Shopping apps: 61%

(We Are Social x Hootsuite, 2020).

  • Malaysians spend an average of 7 hours and 57 minutes using mobile internet. Average mobile internet speed in Malaysia is 23.80 Mbps (We Are Social x Hootsuite, 2020).
  • Total number of population digital in Malaysia 31.83% penetration 76%
  • Unique mobile user 21.62 million penetration 
  • Internet users 26.69 million penetration 
  • Social media users 26 million penetration 
  • Mobile social users 40.69 million penetration  

(We Are Social,x Hootsuite 2020).

  • Malaysians internet users demographic as of July 2018:

Below 20: 8.1%

20 - 29 years: 30%

30 - 39 years: 25.9%

50 - 59 years: 11.6%

60+ years: 6.5%

40 - 49 years: 17.9%

(SKMM Internet User Survey, 2018).

  • Malaysia's Internet penetration is 85.7 per cent in 2018 and Individuals using Internet aged 15 years and above in Malaysia rose by nine percentage points to 80.1 per cent in 2017 (NST, 2018).
  • There are 89.4% (21.9 million) access their smartphone, compared to other mediums such as laptop, netbook and PC desktop.

1. Smartphone: 96%

2. Laptop/notebook/netbook: 41%

3. Tablets: 18%

4. Television: 90%

(We Are Social, 2019).

5. Device for Streaming in TV: 8%

6. E-Reader Device: 2%

7. Wearable Tech Device: 12%

  • Average Malaysian spend time using internet for 7 hours and 57 minutes a day, with an average daily time of using social media is 2 hours and 45 minutes. Average daily TV viewing time via broadcasting/streaming is 2 hours and 59 minutes, and average daily time spent listening to streaming music is 1 hour and 26 minutes (We Are Social x Hootsuite, 2020).
  • Malaysia’s average download speed was ranked 63rd out of 130 countries, with an average download speed of 22.56 Mbps (NST, 2018).
  • 88% Malaysian prefer using smartphone for device usage:

Smartphone: 51%

Computer: 46.3%

Tablets: 2.7%

(We Are Social x Hootsuite, 2020).

  • Malaysians internet users demographic as of July 2018:

Below 20: 8.1%

20 - 29 years: 30%

30 - 39 years: 25.9%

(SKMM Internet User Survey, 2018).

40 - 49 years: 17.9%

50 - 59 years: 11.6%

60+ years: 6.5%


  • The average speed of mobile internet connections is 23.80 Mbps with average speed of fixed internet connections 78.03 MBPs (We Are Social x Hootsuite, 2020).

  • Malaysian still prefer to shop online using desktop (68%) compared to shop online via smartphones (31%) (ecInsider, 2019).
  • These are the top online content activities in Malaysia as of January 2020.

1. Watching online videos: 98%

2. Watching vlogs: 55% 

3. Listening to music on streaming services: 70%

4. Listening to online radio stations: 56% 

5. Listening to podcasts: 35% 

(We Are Social x Hootsuite, 2020).

Social Media Marketing

  • Social Media Statistics Malaysia on January 2019:

1. Facebook 85.98%
2. Pinterest 4.1%

3. Instagram 3.42%

(Statcounter, 2019).

4. Twitter 3.24%

5. Youtube 2.18%

6. Tumblr 0.65%


  • May 2018 the average number of fans the top 20 brands in Malaysia have is 1.5 million on Facebook and 485k on Twitter (Social Bakers, 2018).
  • 73% of consumers have been impacted by a brand’s social media presence when making a purchase decision (Animoto, 2018).
  • The Internet remained as an important source of information for 96.5% users (SKMM Internet User Survey, 2018).
  • Leisure activities, listening to music or online radio was preferred by 77.6% of users. Meanwhile, downloading video and watching TV online takes account by 70.0% (SKMM Internet User Survey, 2018).
  • According to 2018 State of Social Video Consumer Trends report that 93% of marketers say they’ve landed a new customer thanks to a video on social media, 88% of marketers are satisfied with the return on investment (ROI) of their video marketing efforts on social media, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram are the top 3 platforms for marketers posting social marketing videos and video ads (Animoto, 2018).
  • Up to 96% of Malaysian users use mobile messengers and watch videos on mobile every month (We Are Social, 2019).
  • Most active social media platform in Malaysia:

1. Youtube 93%
2. Whatsapp 91%
3. Facebook 89%

4. Instagram 72%

(We Are Social x Hootsuite, 2020).

5. FB Messenger 63%
6. Twitter 47%

7. WeChat 30%

  • As of 2018, Facebook reveals that 22.4 million of Malaysians who have access to the internet are also on Facebook. The number increased by 0.4 million compared to the previous year (Statista, 2019).

  • By January 2019, 98% of Malaysian Internet users watched videos online and 95% of them watching videos on mobile (We Are Social, 2019).

  • 47% of Malaysian netizen stream TV content via the Internet and 15% of them watch Esports Tournaments (We Are Social, 2019).
  • The largest audience on Facebook page by Malaysian are:

Tintu-Mon 17,983,233
Upin - Ipin 12,322,892
Siakap Keli 5,680,868

Berita Harian Online 5,354,357

Harian Metro 4,996,101

(Social Bakers, 2019).

  • Facebook is the most visited in the statistics per day:

9:39 daily time per site.
4:00 daily page view per visitor.

7.40% of traffic from search

(Alexa, 2019).

  • Facebook usage analysis :
    Total number of monthly active Facebook users: 24.00 million.
    Annual change in Facebook users: increase 9%.
    Percentage of Facebook users accessing via mobile : 92%
    (We Are Social, 2018).
  • Top social media marketing companies in Malaysia, 2019 reviews:

    • 1. SAYS.com
    2. SushiVid.com

    3. VoxEureka

    4. Mirum Agency

    5. SPLR Worldwide

    (Clutch, 2019).

    Search Marketing

    • Top 10 most visited websites Malaysians :

    Google.com

    Youtube.com

    Google.com.my

    Maybank2u.com.my

    Shopee.com.my

    (Alexa, 2021).

    Facebook.com

    Blogspot.com

    Wikipedia.org

    Lazada.com.my

    • In September 2020,  these are the most visited websites (desktop and mobile) in Malaysia:

    1. Google Sites 

    2. Facebook

    3. Rev Media Group

    4. Astro Group

    5. Microsoft Sites

    6. Shopee.com.my

    7. Lazada Sites

    8. The Star Media Group

    9. Nacsa.gov.my

    10. Telegram.org

    (MDA Report, 2020)

    • Malaysians’ top 5 searches on Google in 2021 in order are:

    1. US Elections 2020
    2. Google Classroom
    3. Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN)
    4. Selamat Hari Guru
    5. Anugerah Bintang Popular 2017

    (Google Trends, 2021).

    • 48.8% Malaysian using internet for Online shopping (IAMK, 2018).

    The top 10 topics Malaysian googled in 2018:

    1. World Cup
    2. SPR
    3. Astro Awani

    4. Lafazkan Kalimah Cintamu

    5. Story of Yanxi Palace

    6. BR1M

    7. Kekasih Paksa Rela

    8. Najib

    9. Jangan Benci Cintaku

    10. Mahatir

    (HITZ, 2018).

    • Google holds the first place with the Search Engine’s market share as of Jan 2021 with 98.58%, followed by Bing with 0.44% and Yahoo with 0.86% (Statcounter, 2021).
    • Top 10 site ranking for all categories in Malaysia:

    1. Google.com
    2. YouTube
    3. Facebook

    4. Whatsapp.com

    5. Maybank2U.com

    (SimilarWeb, 2021).

    6. Instagram.com

    7. Wikipedia.org

    8. Shopee.com.my

    9. Twitter

    10. Yahoo


    • 58% of consumers purchase after watching branded social videos via mobile (We Are Social, 2019).

    • 88% of Malaysian Internet user also visited online retail store on the web (We Are Social, 2019).
    • 88% Malaysian prefer using smartphone for device usage:

    Smartphone: 88%
    Computer: 41%

    Tablets: 18%

    (We Are Social, 2018).

    E-Commerce & M-Commerce

    • E-commerce spend by Category, Electronic $1.01 billion, Furniture & appliances $632 million, Fashion & beauty $871 million, Food & personal care $588million (We Are Social x Hootsuite, 2020).
    • As a result of Malaysia’s internet and mobile connectivity, as well as public sector encouragement, Malaysia has high rates of eCommerce usage. Malaysia boasts 15.3 million online shoppers (50 percent of the population) and 62 percent of mobile users their devices to shop online (Export.Gov, 2018).
    • According to GlobalData’s E-Commerce Analytics, Malaysia’s e-commerce market is estimated to register 24.7% growth in 2020. The market is expected to reach MYR51.6 billion (US$12.6 bilion) by 2024, increasing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.3% between 2020 and 2024 (GlobalData, 2020).
    • Food & Beverage, Personal Care and Tech Electronics are the biggest contributed to the E-commerce growth in Q3 2020 (MDA, 2020).
    • In a survey, 88% of Malaysian respondents search online for products/service to buy and visited an online retail store (Export Gov, 2019).







    • Top 10 e-commerce sites in Malaysia 2018, Lazada Malaysia, 11street Malaysia, Shopee Malaysia, Lelong.my ,Carousell Malaysia, Zalora Malaysia, Qoo10 Malaysia, eBay Malaysia, Fave, Hermo (AseanUp, 2019).
    • The total value of the E-commerce market is US$4 billion and the value of the market for online consumer goods purchases is US$3.68 billion (We Are Social x Hootsuite, 2020).

    E-Publishing

    • Revenue in the ePublishing segment amounts to US$80 million in 2021, revenue is expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2019-2023) of 4.9%, resulting in a market volume of US$97 million by 2025 (Statista, 2021).
    • The market's largest segment is eBooks with a market volume of US$80 million with 5.6 million users in 2021 (Statista, 2021). 

    Email Marketing

    • Malaysia reports to have the one of highest open rate of email marketing behaviour, with all the rates higher than the average of Asia's statistics (GetResponse, 2019).
      • The average email marketing behaviour in Malaysia:

    Open rate: 24.33%
    Click-through rate: 3.21%
    Click-to-open rate: 13.2%
    Unsubscribe rate: 0.14%
    Spam rate: 0.01%
    (GetResponse, 2019).

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