R (very similar to Matlab on this level): 12 characters.
> 1:9%*%t(1:9)
[,1] [,2] [,3] [,4] [,5] [,6] [,7] [,8] [,9]
[1,] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
[2,] 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
[3,] 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27
[4,] 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36
[5,] 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
[6,] 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54
[7,] 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63
[8,] 8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64 72
[9,] 9 18 27 36 45 54 63 72 81