Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Malawi
Malawi: Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower was 13.7% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Malawi, 2002–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Malawi recorded 13.7% for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in 2023. That is the highest value across all 14 years on record.
That represents a change of up 82.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Malawi peaked at 13.7% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 1.2%, in 2002.
Malawi ranks 43rd of 169 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 14 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Malawi, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 1.2% | — |
| 2004 | 5.7% | +360.5% |
| 2005 | 10.2% | +78.0% |
| 2006 | 10.1% | -0.5% |
| 2007 | 9.0% | -10.8% |
| 2008 | 6.0% | -33.2% |
| 2009 | 7.0% | +15.4% |
| 2013 | 7.5% | +8.3% |
| 2014 | 8.0% | +5.6% |
| 2015 | 8.3% | +3.5% |
| 2016 | 9.0% | +8.9% |
| 2018 | 8.7% | -3.1% |
| 2019 | 9.1% | +4.8% |
| 2023 | 13.7% | +50.5% |
Malawi compared with similar countries
- Malawi's 13.7% is below the median for low income countries, which is 32.7%, 42% of the median. (16 countries reporting)
- Malawi's 13.7% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 20.5%, 67% of the median. (35 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | +360.5% | 1.2% | 5.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 7.0% | 1.2% | 10.2% | 7 |
| 2010s | 8.4% | 7.5% | 9.1% | 6 |
| 2020s | 13.7% | 13.7% | 13.7% | 1 |
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 children and adolescents of primary and lower in Malawi?
- Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Malawi was 13.7% in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 13.7% in 2023.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.2% in 2002.
- How does Malawi rank for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower?
- Malawi ranks 43rd out of 169 countries with data for 2023.
- Is out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 82.0%. 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 Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower secondary school age, male (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 14 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release