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 13.6% 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 13.6% for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in 2025.
The figure is down 0.7% on the previous year and up 2.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Malaysia peaked at 15.7% in 2018 and was at its lowest, 5.5%, in 2001.
Malaysia ranks 61st 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 | 5.6% | — |
| 2001 | 5.5% | -1.8% |
| 2002 | 6.5% | +18.2% |
| 2003 | 8.0% | +23.1% |
| 2004 | 9.2% | +15.0% |
| 2005 | 9.5% | +3.3% |
| 2006 | 9.4% | -1.1% |
| 2007 | 9.1% | -3.2% |
| 2008 | 8.7% | -4.4% |
| 2009 | 8.3% | -4.6% |
| 2010 | 8.2% | -1.2% |
| 2011 | 8.6% | +4.9% |
| 2012 | 9.7% | +12.8% |
| 2013 | 11.1% | +14.4% |
| 2014 | 12.2% | +9.9% |
| 2015 | 13.3% | +9.0% |
| 2016 | 14.8% | +11.3% |
| 2017 | 15.6% | +5.4% |
| 2018 | 15.7% | +0.6% |
| 2019 | 14.9% | -5.1% |
| 2020 | 14.4% | -3.4% |
| 2021 | 14.1% | -2.1% |
| 2022 | 14.0% | -0.7% |
| 2023 | 13.8% | -1.4% |
| 2024 | 13.7% | -0.7% |
| 2025 | 13.6% | -0.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 8.0% | 5.5% | 9.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 12.4% | 8.2% | 15.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 13.9% | 13.6% | 14.4% | 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 13.6% 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 15.7% in 2018.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age recorded in Malaysia?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.5% in 2001.
- How does Malaysia rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age?
- Malaysia ranks 61st 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 up 2.3%. 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, female (modelled data) (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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