Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Malaysia
Malaysia: Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper was 23.5% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Malaysia, 1998–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Malaysia recorded 23.5% for out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in 2024.
The figure is up 1.1% on the previous year and up 6.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Malaysia peaked at 30.7% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 11.4%, in 2004.
That places Malaysia 45th out of 175 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Malaysia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 18.9% | — |
| 1999 | 20.9% | +10.4% |
| 2000 | 21.4% | +2.4% |
| 2001 | 19.8% | -7.6% |
| 2002 | 19.4% | -2.1% |
| 2003 | 11.5% | -40.5% |
| 2004 | 11.4% | -1.5% |
| 2005 | 18.1% | +59.2% |
| 2006 | 18.3% | +1.4% |
| 2007 | 22.5% | +22.6% |
| 2008 | 21.7% | -3.5% |
| 2009 | 20.4% | -6.1% |
| 2010 | 19.3% | -5.4% |
| 2011 | 19.2% | -0.2% |
| 2012 | 17.0% | -11.4% |
| 2013 | 19.8% | +15.9% |
| 2014 | 22.1% | +11.7% |
| 2016 | 24.8% | +12.1% |
| 2017 | 26.3% | +6.1% |
| 2018 | 29.6% | +12.7% |
| 2019 | 27.8% | -6.1% |
| 2020 | 30.7% | +10.5% |
| 2021 | 29.7% | -3.4% |
| 2022 | 24.1% | -18.7% |
| 2023 | 23.3% | -3.5% |
| 2024 | 23.5% | +1.1% |
Malaysia compared with similar countries
- Malaysia's 23.5% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 12.8%, 1.8× the median. (51 countries reporting)
- Malaysia's 23.5% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 13.5%, 1.7× the median. (28 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Malaysia 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | +59.2% | 11.4% | 18.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 19.9% | 18.9% | 20.9% | 2 |
| 2000s | 18.4% | 11.4% | 22.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 22.9% | 17.0% | 29.6% | 9 |
| 2020s | 26.3% | 23.3% | 30.7% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Malaysia
- 42 Tajikistan 25.8% compare
- 43 Kenya 24.7% compare
- 44 Turks and Caicos Islands 24.1% compare
- 46 Panama 22.7% compare
- 47 Romania 21.3% compare
- 48 Bangladesh 20.8% compare
More education data for Malaysia
- 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)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0859 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Malaysia?
- Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Malaysia was 23.5% 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 Malaysia?
- The highest recorded value was 30.7% in 2020.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper recorded in Malaysia?
- The lowest recorded value was 11.4% in 2004.
- How does Malaysia rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper?
- Malaysia ranks 45th 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 Malaysia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.6%. 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 Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper secondary school age, female (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 26 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release