Official entrance age to upper secondary education in Malawi

Malawi: Official entrance age to upper secondary education was 16 years in 2020. ▲ Rising

Latest (2020)
16 years
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
12th
of 209 countries
All-time high
16 years
in 1997
All-time low
14 years
in 1970
Years of data
51
1970–2020

Official entrance age to upper secondary education in Malawi, 1970–2020

051015197019952020

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.

Analysis

Malawi recorded 16 years for official entrance age to upper secondary education in 2020. That is the highest value across all 51 years on record.

That represents a change of unchanged over ten years.

Over the whole period, official entrance age to upper secondary education in Malawi peaked at 16 years in 1997 and was at its lowest, 14 years, in 1970.

That places Malawi 12th out of 209 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 51 years of available data.

Official entrance age to upper secondary education in Malawi, year by year

Annual values for Official entrance age to upper secondary education (years) in Malawi, 1970 to 2020.
Year years Change
1970 14 years
1971 14 years +0.0%
1972 14 years +0.0%
1973 14 years +0.0%
1974 14 years +0.0%
1975 14 years +0.0%
1976 14 years +0.0%
1977 14 years +0.0%
1978 14 years +0.0%
1979 14 years +0.0%
1980 14 years +0.0%
1981 14 years +0.0%
1982 14 years +0.0%
1983 14 years +0.0%
1984 14 years +0.0%
1985 14 years +0.0%
1986 14 years +0.0%
1987 14 years +0.0%
1988 14 years +0.0%
1989 14 years +0.0%
1990 14 years +0.0%
1991 14 years +0.0%
1992 14 years +0.0%
1993 14 years +0.0%
1994 14 years +0.0%
1995 14 years +0.0%
1996 14 years +0.0%
1997 16 years +14.3%
1998 14 years -12.5%
1999 16 years +14.3%
2000 16 years +0.0%
2001 16 years +0.0%
2002 16 years +0.0%
2003 16 years +0.0%
2004 16 years +0.0%
2005 16 years +0.0%
2006 16 years +0.0%
2007 16 years +0.0%
2008 16 years +0.0%
2009 16 years +0.0%
2010 16 years +0.0%
2011 16 years +0.0%
2012 16 years +0.0%
2013 16 years +0.0%
2014 16 years +0.0%
2015 16 years +0.0%
2016 16 years +0.0%
2017 16 years +0.0%
2018 16 years +0.0%
2019 16 years +0.0%
2020 16 years +0.0%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 14 years 14 years 14 years 10
1980s 14 years 14 years 14 years 10
1990s 14.4 years 14 years 16 years 10
2000s 16 years 16 years 16 years 10
2010s 16 years 16 years 16 years 10
2020s 16 years 16 years 16 years 1

Countries ranked near Malawi

  1. 12 Afghanistan 16 years compare
  2. 12 American Samoa 16 years compare
  3. 12 Andorra 16 years compare
  4. 12 Australia 16 years compare
  5. 12 Benin 16 years compare
  6. 12 Botswana 16 years compare
  7. 12 Burkina Faso 16 years compare
  8. 12 Cameroon 16 years compare
  9. 12 Central African Republic 16 years compare
  10. 12 Chad 16 years compare
  11. 12 Comoros 16 years compare
  12. 12 Congo 16 years compare
  13. 12 Cote d'Ivoire 16 years compare
  14. 12 Denmark 16 years compare
  15. 12 El Salvador 16 years compare
  16. 12 Estonia 16 years compare
  17. 12 Eswatini 16 years compare
  18. 12 Fiji 16 years compare
  19. 12 Finland 16 years compare
  20. 12 Gambia 16 years compare
  21. 12 Germany 16 years compare
  22. 12 Guatemala 16 years compare
  23. 12 Iceland 16 years compare
  24. 12 Indonesia 16 years compare
  25. 12 Ireland 16 years compare
  26. 12 Jordan 16 years compare
  27. 12 Kyrgyzstan 16 years compare
  28. 12 Latvia 16 years compare
  29. 12 Lesotho 16 years compare
  30. 12 Liechtenstein 16 years compare
  31. 12 Maldives 16 years compare
  32. 12 Mali 16 years compare
  33. 12 Marshall Islands 16 years compare
  34. 12 Mauritania 16 years compare
  35. 12 Moldova 16 years compare
  36. 12 Mozambique 16 years compare
  37. 12 Nauru 16 years compare
  38. 12 Norway 16 years compare
  39. 12 Oman 16 years compare
  40. 12 Philippines 16 years compare
  41. 12 Poland 16 years compare
  42. 12 Russia 16 years compare
  43. 12 Rwanda 16 years compare
  44. 12 Senegal 16 years compare
  45. 12 South Africa 16 years compare
  46. 12 Suriname 16 years compare
  47. 12 Sweden 16 years compare
  48. 12 Switzerland 16 years compare
  49. 12 Tajikistan 16 years compare
  50. 12 Togo 16 years compare
  51. 12 Turkmenistan 16 years compare
  52. 12 Tuvalu 16 years compare
  53. 12 Uzbekistan 16 years compare
  54. 12 Vanuatu 16 years compare
  55. 12 Zambia 16 years compare

See the full ranking of 209 places →

More education data for Malawi

All data for Malawi →

Frequently asked questions

What is official entrance age to upper secondary education in Malawi?
Official entrance age to upper secondary education in Malawi was 16 years in 2020, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest official entrance age to upper secondary education recorded in Malawi?
The highest recorded value was 16 years in 1997.
What is the lowest official entrance age to upper secondary education recorded in Malawi?
The lowest recorded value was 14 years in 1970.
How does Malawi rank for official entrance age to upper secondary education?
Malawi ranks 12th out of 209 countries with data for 2020.
Is official entrance age to upper secondary education rising or falling in Malawi?
Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Malawi data come from?
The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Official entrance age to upper secondary education (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Official entrance age to upper secondary education in Malawi. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 27 August 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/stat/official-entrance-age-to-upper-secondary-education-years/malawi/

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About this data

Indicator
Official entrance age to upper secondary education (years)
Unit
years
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
209 places, 10,366 data points, 1970–2020
Last refreshed

Age at which students would enter upper secondary education, assuming they had started at the official entrance age for the lowest level of education, had studied full-time throughout and had progressed through the system without repeating or skipping a grade.