Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Malawi
Malawi: Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper was 38.2% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Malawi, 1999–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Malawi recorded 38.2% for out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in 2024.
That represents a change of down 4.1% on the previous year and up 11.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Malawi peaked at 66.5% in 2016 and was at its lowest, 33.3%, in 2017.
Malawi ranks 30th of 175 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 23 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Malawi, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 36.6% | — |
| 2002 | 40.7% | +11.1% |
| 2004 | 45.2% | +10.9% |
| 2005 | 48.6% | +7.5% |
| 2006 | 45.7% | -6.0% |
| 2007 | 41.0% | -10.1% |
| 2008 | 37.7% | -8.0% |
| 2009 | 37.6% | -0.4% |
| 2010 | 39.2% | +4.2% |
| 2011 | 37.5% | -4.1% |
| 2012 | 38.5% | +2.5% |
| 2013 | 36.8% | -4.4% |
| 2014 | 34.4% | -6.4% |
| 2015 | 35.2% | +2.4% |
| 2016 | 66.5% | +88.8% |
| 2017 | 33.3% | -49.9% |
| 2018 | 33.7% | +1.3% |
| 2019 | 39.3% | +16.5% |
| 2020 | 33.4% | -15.0% |
| 2021 | 44.2% | +32.4% |
| 2022 | 41.7% | -5.5% |
| 2023 | 39.8% | -4.7% |
| 2024 | 38.2% | -4.1% |
Malawi compared with similar countries
- Malawi's 38.2% is below the median for low income countries, which is 51.5%, 74% of the median. (16 countries reporting)
- Malawi's 38.2% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 38.3%, 100% of the median. (34 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Malawi changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | +88.8% | 35.2% | 66.5% |
| 2017 | -49.9% | 66.5% | 33.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 36.6% | 36.6% | 36.6% | 1 |
| 2000s | 42.4% | 37.6% | 48.6% | 7 |
| 2010s | 39.4% | 33.3% | 66.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 39.5% | 33.4% | 44.2% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More education data for Malawi
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 14,528 (2019)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 1.25 million (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 1.16 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 4.75 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 2.7 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0004 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.2193 units per person (2024)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Enrolment in primary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 4.75 million (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Malawi?
- Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Malawi was 38.2% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 66.5% in 2016.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 33.3% in 2017.
- How does Malawi rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper?
- Malawi ranks 30th out of 175 countries with data for 2024.
- Is out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 11.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Malawi data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper secondary school age, female (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 23 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release