Unemployment rate during each prime minister's tenure
Every prime minister since 1991, ranked by how the unemployment rate changed from their first day in office. Politare shows what happened during a tenure; it does not claim the office-holder caused it.
| # | Prime minister | In office | Total | Per year | Chart |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bersatu Muhyiddin Yassin | 1 Mar 2020 – 21 Aug 2021 | +1.4 pp Feb 2020 → Jul 2021 | +1.0 pp/yr | |
| 2 | Bersatu Mahathir Mohamad | 10 May 2018 – 1 Mar 2020 | 0.0 pp Apr 2018 → Feb 2020 | 0.0 pp/yr | |
| 3 |  Abdullah Ahmad Badawi | 31 Oct 2003 – 3 Apr 2009 | −0.3 pp Jul 2003 → Jul 2008 | −0.1 pp/yr | |
| 4 |  Anwar Ibrahim | 24 Nov 2022 – now | −0.8 pp Oct 2022 → Aug 2026 | −0.2 pp/yr | |
| 5 | Ismail Sabri Yaakob | 21 Aug 2021 – 24 Nov 2022 | −1.0 pp Jul 2021 → Oct 2022 | −0.8 pp/yr |
Sorted by total, highest first. Every row is indexed to the last month complete before the first day in office ("from" marks a start that had to move because that period had no data, or because the period cut it); Levels are per cent changes, rates are differences in pp; "per year" compounds levels and divides rates. Tenures with under 12 months, or under three observations, are left out. % of labour force, seasonally adjusted · Department of Statistics Malaysia (OpenDOSM, data.gov.my), Labour Force Survey, unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64, seasonally adjusted, monthly from 2010 (lfs_month_sa); the yearly rate before (lfs_year) · Malaysia data · as of Sep 2026.