Educational attainment rate, completed primary … primary both in Malaysia
Malaysia: Educational attainment rate, completed primary … primary both was 94.8% in 2022. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in Malaysia, 1980–2022
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Malaysia recorded 94.8% for educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in 2022. That is the highest value across all 10 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.4% on the previous year and up 3.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in Malaysia peaked at 94.8% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 42.4%, in 1980.
That places Malaysia 65th out of 137 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 10 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed primary … primary both in Malaysia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 42.4% | — |
| 1991 | 62.4% | +47.3% |
| 1996 | 70.3% | +12.7% |
| 2000 | 84.8% | +20.6% |
| 2005 | 82.4% | -2.8% |
| 2009 | 90.6% | +10.0% |
| 2010 | 91.2% | +0.7% |
| 2016 | 93.9% | +3.0% |
| 2019 | 94.4% | +0.5% |
| 2022 | 94.8% | +0.4% |
Malaysia compared with similar countries
- Malaysia's 94.8% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 90.3%, 1.1× the median. (42 countries reporting)
- Malaysia's 94.8% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 91.4%, 1.0× the median. (17 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 42.4% | 42.4% | 42.4% | 1 |
| 1990s | 66.4% | 62.4% | 70.3% | 2 |
| 2000s | 85.9% | 82.4% | 90.6% | 3 |
| 2010s | 93.2% | 91.2% | 94.4% | 3 |
| 2020s | 94.8% | 94.8% | 94.8% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Malaysia
More education data for Malaysia
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 88.9 (2024)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 88.03 (2024)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 217,105 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 0 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 475,967 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 460,041 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.64 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 3.06 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -1.2 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in Malaysia?
- Educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher in Malaysia was 94.8% in 2022, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher recorded in Malaysia?
- The highest recorded value was 94.8% in 2022.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher recorded in Malaysia?
- The lowest recorded value was 42.4% in 1980.
- How does Malaysia rank for educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher?
- Malaysia ranks 65th out of 137 countries with data for 2022.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher rising or falling in Malaysia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Malaysia data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Educational attainment rate, completed primary education or higher, population 25+ years, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 10 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release