Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Malaysia
Malaysia: Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age was 16.7% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Malaysia, 2000–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Malaysia recorded 16.7% for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.2% on the previous year and down 1.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Malaysia peaked at 19.2% in 2017 and was at its lowest, 8.9%, in 2001.
Malaysia ranks 59th of 206 countries on this measure, 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 of lower secondary school age in Malaysia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 9.0% | — |
| 2001 | 8.9% | -1.1% |
| 2002 | 9.9% | +11.2% |
| 2003 | 11.2% | +13.1% |
| 2004 | 12.1% | +8.0% |
| 2005 | 12.1% | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 11.9% | -1.7% |
| 2007 | 11.6% | -2.5% |
| 2008 | 11.3% | -2.6% |
| 2009 | 10.8% | -4.4% |
| 2010 | 10.7% | -0.9% |
| 2011 | 11.3% | +5.6% |
| 2012 | 12.7% | +12.4% |
| 2013 | 14.4% | +13.4% |
| 2014 | 15.7% | +9.0% |
| 2015 | 16.9% | +7.6% |
| 2016 | 18.3% | +8.3% |
| 2017 | 19.2% | +4.9% |
| 2018 | 19.2% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 18.1% | -5.7% |
| 2020 | 17.0% | -6.1% |
| 2021 | 16.4% | -3.5% |
| 2022 | 16.4% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 16.5% | +0.6% |
| 2024 | 16.5% | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 16.7% | +1.2% |
Malaysia compared with similar countries
- Malaysia's 16.7% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 5.3%, 3.1× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Malaysia's 16.7% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 6.3%, 2.6× the median. (32 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 10.9% | 8.9% | 12.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 15.7% | 10.7% | 19.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 16.6% | 16.4% | 17.0% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Malaysia
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 of lower secondary school age in Malaysia?
- Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Malaysia was 16.7% in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age recorded in Malaysia?
- The highest recorded value was 19.2% in 2017.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age recorded in Malaysia?
- The lowest recorded value was 8.9% in 2001.
- How does Malaysia rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age?
- Malaysia ranks 59th out of 206 countries with data for 2025.
- Is out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age rising or falling in Malaysia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.2%. 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 of lower secondary school age, both sexes (modelled data) (%). 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