Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, female in Malawi
Malawi: Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, female was 7.6% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, female in Malawi, 2000–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Malawi recorded 7.6% for out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, female in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 26 years on record.
That represents a change of down 7.3% on the previous year and down 19.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, female in Malawi peaked at 17.8% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 7.6%, in 2025.
That places Malawi 76th out of 206 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 26 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, female in Malawi, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 17.8% | — |
| 2001 | 16.0% | -10.1% |
| 2002 | 14.4% | -10.0% |
| 2003 | 12.6% | -12.5% |
| 2004 | 10.7% | -15.1% |
| 2005 | 9.3% | -13.1% |
| 2006 | 8.6% | -7.5% |
| 2007 | 8.4% | -2.3% |
| 2008 | 8.4% | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 8.3% | -1.2% |
| 2010 | 8.0% | -3.6% |
| 2011 | 8.1% | +1.2% |
| 2012 | 8.5% | +4.9% |
| 2013 | 9.1% | +7.1% |
| 2014 | 9.4% | +3.3% |
| 2015 | 9.4% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 9.3% | -1.1% |
| 2017 | 9.1% | -2.2% |
| 2018 | 9.0% | -1.1% |
| 2019 | 9.1% | +1.1% |
| 2020 | 9.2% | +1.1% |
| 2021 | 9.1% | -1.1% |
| 2022 | 8.8% | -3.3% |
| 2023 | 8.5% | -3.4% |
| 2024 | 8.2% | -3.5% |
| 2025 | 7.6% | -7.3% |
Malawi compared with similar countries
- Malawi's 7.6% is below the median for low income countries, which is 28.9%, 26% of the median. (24 countries reporting)
- Malawi's 7.6% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 18.2%, 42% of the median. (47 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 11.4% | 8.3% | 17.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 8.9% | 8.0% | 9.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 8.6% | 7.6% | 9.2% | 6 |
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 of primary school age, female in Malawi?
- Out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, female in Malawi was 7.6% in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, female recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 17.8% in 2000.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, female recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.6% in 2025.
- How does Malawi rank for out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, female?
- Malawi ranks 76th out of 206 countries with data for 2025.
- Is out-of-school rate for children of primary school age, female rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is down 19.1%. 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 children of primary 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