Population during each chief minister or Menteri Besar's tenure
16 chief ministers, Menteri Besar and territory ministers, ranked by how population changed from their first day in office, next to Malaysia over the same months. Politare shows what happened during a tenure; it does not claim the office-holder caused it.
| # | Chief minister or Menteri Besar | State | In office | Total | vs MY | Per year | Chart |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Abdul Ghani Othman | Johor | 3 May 1995 – 14 May 2013 | +45.1% 1994 → 2012 | −1.4 pts MY +46.5% | +2.1%/yr | |
| 2 | Musa Aman | Sabah | 27 Mar 2003 – 12 May 2018 | +41.8% 2002 → 2017 | +11.3 pts MY +30.5% | +2.4%/yr | |
| 3 |  Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat | Kelantan | 22 Oct 1990 – 6 May 2013 from 1991 | +34.6% 1991 → 2012 | −24.6 pts MY +59.1% | +1.4%/yr | |
| 4 | Mohd Ali Rustam | Melaka | 2 Dec 1999 – 7 May 2013 | +33.2% 1999 → 2012 | +4.4 pts MY +28.8% | +2.2%/yr | |
| 5 |  Koh Tsu Koon | Penang | 25 Oct 1990 – 11 Mar 2008 from 1991 | +33.0% 1991 → 2007 | −12.9 pts MY +45.9% | +1.8%/yr | |
| 6 | Adnan Yaakob | Pahang | 20 May 1999 – 15 May 2018 | +31.9% 1998 → 2017 | −11.5 pts MY +43.4% | +1.5%/yr | |
| 7 | Abu Hassan Omar | Selangor | 6 Jun 1997 – 18 Aug 2000 | +24.3% 1996 → 2000 | +13.6 pts MY +10.7% | +5.6%/yr | |
| 8 | N Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor | Putrajaya | 16 May 2013 – 2 Jul 2018 | +24.1% 2012 → 2018 | +14.4 pts MY +9.7% | +3.7%/yr | |
| 9 | Mohamad Khir Toyo | Selangor | 18 Aug 2000 – 13 Mar 2008 | +22.4% 2000 → 2007 | +7.2 pts MY +15.2% | +2.9%/yr | |
| 10 | Mohamad Hasan | Negeri Sembilan | 25 Mar 2004 – 12 May 2018 | +21.5% 2003 → 2017 | −6.4 pts MY +27.9% | +1.4%/yr |
Showing 10 of 53 tenures.
Sorted by total, highest first. Every row is indexed to the last count complete before the first day in office ("from" marks a start that had to move because that count had no data, or because the period cut it); Malaysia is measured over the same months. Levels are per cent changes, rates are differences in %; "per year" compounds levels and divides rates. Tenures with under 12 months, or under three observations, are left out. million residents · Department of Statistics Malaysia (OpenDOSM, data.gov.my), current population estimates by state (population_state), citizens and non-citizens · state or federal territory data · as of Sep 2026.