The history of the Faculty of Economics and Management began with the establishment of the Department of Economics and Commerce under the Faculty of Arts in 1970, coinciding with the founding of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, which was established to fulfill the people’s aspiration to uphold the Malay Language as the medium of instruction in all fields of study and knowledge.

The status of the Department of Economics and Commerce was subsequently elevated to faculty level, named the Faculty of Economics and Management in 1974. The development of economics and business knowledge, as well as increasing labor market demand, gave rise to the idea of separating this faculty into two separate faculties, namely the Faculty of Economics and the Faculty of Business Management in 1979.

On April 1, 2004, the Faculty of Economics and Business was established as a merger between the Faculty of Economics and the Faculty of Business Management. The selection of the name Faculty of Economics and Business reflected the core disciplines in the fields of economics, business management, and accounting, and represented the integration of knowledge with a common epistemology. This Faculty of Economics and Business had four schools: the School of Economics, School of Business Management, School of Accounting, and Graduate School of Business.

Subsequently, in August 2010, the University Board of Directors approved the new name for the Faculty of Economics and Business to become the Faculty of Economics and Management, while the School of Business Management was changed to the School of Management.

In July 2018, the Faculty of Economics and Management was restructured by creating assistant dean portfolios and research centers to replace the schools, namely the Centre for Sustainable and Inclusive Development Studies (SID), the Centre for Governance, Resilience and Accountability Studies (GRACE), the Centre for Global Business and Digital Economy Studies (GLoBDE), and the Centre for Value Creation and Human Well-being Studies (INSAN).

Most recently, the Faculty of Economics and Management has been restructured by establishing three schools and several faculty research groups.