Hong Kong, China vs Malaysia: Share of the population with tertiary education
Hong Kong, China
25.3%
in 2020
Malaysia
26.5%
in 2020
Hong Kong, China rank
32nd
Malaysia rank
30th
Share of the population with tertiary education over time
- Hong Kong, China
- Malaysia
How they compare
Malaysia currently reports 26.5% against 25.3% in Hong Kong, China, a difference of 1.2%.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 31 shared years of data; in 1870 it was Malaysia ahead.
Hong Kong, China ranks 32nd and Malaysia ranks 30th of 111 countries.
Across the 16 decades both report, Hong Kong, China averaged higher in 11 and Malaysia in 1.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Hong Kong, China | Malaysia | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| 1880s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| 1890s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| 1900s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| 1910s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.1% | Hong Kong, China |
| 1920s | 1.2% | 0.4% | 0.8% | Hong Kong, China |
| 1930s | 2.4% | 0.9% | 1.4% | Hong Kong, China |
| 1940s | 3.6% | 1.2% | 2.3% | Hong Kong, China |
| 1950s | 4.2% | 1.4% | 2.8% | Hong Kong, China |
| 1960s | 4.9% | 1.6% | 3.4% | Hong Kong, China |
| 1970s | 3.6% | 1.5% | 2.1% | Hong Kong, China |
| 1980s | 8.1% | 3.1% | 5.0% | Hong Kong, China |
| 1990s | 12.8% | 8.4% | 4.4% | Hong Kong, China |
| 2000s | 21.0% | 10.9% | 10.0% | Hong Kong, China |
| 2010s | 21.2% | 20.1% | 1.1% | Hong Kong, China |
| 2020s | 25.3% | 26.5% | 1.2% | Malaysia |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher share of the population with tertiary education, Hong Kong, China or Malaysia?
- Malaysia, at 26.5% against 25.3% in Hong Kong, China as of 2020.
- What is the difference in share of the population with tertiary education between Hong Kong, China and Malaysia?
- 1.2%, with Malaysia ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Hong Kong, China and Malaysia?
- 31 years are reported by both, from 1870 to 2020.
- How do Hong Kong, China and Malaysia rank globally for share of the population with tertiary education?
- Hong Kong, China ranks 32nd and Malaysia ranks 30th of 111 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Share of the population with tertiary education. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Percentage of the population aged 25 to 65 years who have either completed or partially completed tertiary education.