Malaysian universities are showing steady progress in sustainability, with 17 of 33 ranked institutions improving their positions in the 2026 QS World University Rankings: Sustainability.
According to a report by The Malay Mail Universiti Malaya (UM) remains Malaysia’s highest-ranked university overall at 166th globally, although it dropped out of the world top 150, having dipped compared to last year when it placed 115th.
Meanwhile, UCSI University delivered Malaysia’s standout performance in environmental sustainability, ranking 18th worldwide in this specific indicator.
Malaysia now has 33 universities featured in the QS Sustainability rankings, including four new entries.
While 17 institutions improved their overall scores, 11 fell and one remained unchanged, reflecting broad but uneven progress in governance, social, and environmental dimensions.
The report noted that Malaysia trailed its southern neighbour Singapore, which has two universities in the global top 100: National University of Singapore at 69th and Nanyang Technological University at 99th.
Across Asia, Seoul National University in South Korea leads at 37th, followed by the University of Tokyo at 48th and National Taiwan University at 72nd.
China remains the second most represented country, with 163 universities in the rankings and 49 new entries. Fudan University is China’s highest-ranked institution at 140th, while the University of Hong Kong tops Hong Kong at 137th.
India’s highest-ranked university, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, fell out of the top 200, placing 205th.
Thailand showed the strongest momentum in South-east Asia, with 13 of its 19 ranked universities improving, giving it an overall improvement rate of 58 per cent, the highest in the world among systems with at least 10 ranked institutions.
