18th September 2026 - 2 min read
Malaysia’s tourism-related industries added RM323 billion in value to the economy in 2025, equal to 15.9% of Malaysia’s GDP, up 8.6% from RM297.6 billion in 2024, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM). This includes businesses such as shops, restaurants and hotels that serve both visitors and Malaysians.
Retail was the biggest contributor at 50.6%, followed by food and beverage services at 16.4%. Medical tourism, conferences, exhibitions and business events made up 13.1%, while accommodation contributed 9.3%. Cultural, sports and recreational activities contributed another 4.3%.
Spending by international and domestic visitors rose 15.2% to RM236.9 billion in 2025, compared with RM205.6 billion in 2024.
Shopping took the biggest share at 37.5%, worth RM88.9 billion. Food and beverage services made up 16.1%, while accommodation made up 14.2%.
International visitors spent RM124.8 billion, up 16.5% from 2024. Domestic tourism expenditure rose 13.8% to RM112.1 billion.
Malaysia recorded 42.2 million visitor arrivals in 2025 [pdf], up 11.2% from 2024 and 20.6% above the 2019 level.
Visitors from Singapore made up 21.1 million arrivals, half of the total. China followed with 4.7 million arrivals, while Indonesia recorded 4.3 million. Thailand sent 2.5 million and Brunei 1.6 million.
Across all source markets, Malaysia recorded 26.6 million overnight tourists and 15.6 million same-day visitors in 2025.
Of the RM124.8 billion spent by international visitors in 2025, 95.6% came from overnight tourists, while the remaining 4.4% came from same-day visitors.
Based on DOSM’s spending and visitor figures, an overnight tourist spent roughly RM4,500 on average, compared with about RM350 for a same-day visitor. These are broad averages, so individual spending will vary.
Tourism-related industries employed 3.7 million people in 2025, or 22.1% of all jobs in Malaysia. Employment grew 3.5% from 2024, slower than the 4.6% growth recorded the year before.
Retail trade provided 37.9% of tourism-related jobs, while food and beverage services provided another 36.7%.
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Christina writes about personal finance with an eye for making the complicated feel straightforward. She is drawn to the everyday money decisions people face and genuinely enjoys finding the clearest way to explain them. Between articles, she is probably napping, on a hiking trail, or terrorising her sister’s cats.
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