Which has higher children out of school, primary, Malaysia or South Africa?

South Africa, at 448,146 against 404,724 in Malaysia as of 2023.

What is the difference in children out of school, primary between Malaysia and South Africa?

43,422, with South Africa ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for Malaysia and South Africa?

18 years are reported by both, from 1970 to 2023.

Where does this data come from?

Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), published as Children out of school, primary. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Malaysia vs South Africa: Children out of school, primary

Malaysia

404,724

in 2024

South Africa

448,146

in 2023

Malaysia rank

25th

South Africa rank

24th

Children out of school, primary over time

Malaysia
South Africa

How they compare

South Africa currently reports 448,146 against 404,724 in Malaysia, a difference of 43,422.

That makes South Africa's figure about 1.1 times Malaysia's.

The two have swapped places 2 times across 18 shared years of data; in 1970 it was South Africa ahead.

Malaysia ranks 25th and South Africa ranks 24th of 197 countries.

South Africa has averaged higher in every one of the 5 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Malaysia	South Africa	Difference	Ahead
1970s	138,174	1.28 million	1.15 million	South Africa
1990s	110,250	1.38 million	1.27 million	South Africa
2000s	157,413	1.17 million	1.01 million	South Africa
2010s	278,506	692,492	413,987	South Africa
2020s	380,583	446,976	66,393	South Africa

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher children out of school, primary, Malaysia or South Africa?: South Africa, at 448,146 against 404,724 in Malaysia as of 2023.
What is the difference in children out of school, primary between Malaysia and South Africa?: 43,422, with South Africa ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Malaysia and South Africa?: 18 years are reported by both, from 1970 to 2023.
How do Malaysia and South Africa rank globally for children out of school, primary?: Malaysia ranks 25th and South Africa ranks 24th of 197 countries.
Where does this data come from?: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), published as Children out of school, primary. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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Malaysia vs South Africa: Children out of school, primary. Statizoid, drawing on Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Retrieved 08 September 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/compare/children-out-of-school-primary/malaysia/south-africa/

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About this data

Indicator: Children out of school, primary
Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage: 202 places, 4,752 data points, 1970–2025
Last refreshed: 03 September 2026

Children out of school are the number of primary-school-age children not enrolled in primary or secondary school.