Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both in Malaysia
Malaysia: Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both was 40.1% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both in Malaysia, 2000–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both in Malaysia stood at 40.1%.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 4.8% on the previous year and up 5.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both in Malaysia peaked at 49.7% in 2021 and was at its lowest, 27.7%, in 2000.
That places Malaysia 51st out of 206 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both in Malaysia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 27.7% | — |
| 2001 | 30.3% | +9.4% |
| 2002 | 31.0% | +2.3% |
| 2003 | 30.2% | -2.6% |
| 2004 | 30.3% | +0.3% |
| 2005 | 32.6% | +7.6% |
| 2006 | 35.5% | +8.9% |
| 2007 | 37.7% | +6.2% |
| 2008 | 38.0% | +0.8% |
| 2009 | 37.9% | -0.3% |
| 2010 | 37.5% | -1.1% |
| 2011 | 37.2% | -0.8% |
| 2012 | 36.3% | -2.4% |
| 2013 | 35.8% | -1.4% |
| 2014 | 36.3% | +1.4% |
| 2015 | 38.1% | +5.0% |
| 2016 | 39.9% | +4.7% |
| 2017 | 40.9% | +2.5% |
| 2018 | 41.6% | +1.7% |
| 2019 | 42.4% | +1.9% |
| 2020 | 42.5% | +0.2% |
| 2021 | 49.7% | +16.9% |
| 2022 | 47.8% | -3.8% |
| 2023 | 44.9% | -6.1% |
| 2024 | 42.1% | -6.2% |
| 2025 | 40.1% | -4.8% |
Malaysia compared with similar countries
- Malaysia's 40.1% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 16.9%, 2.4× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Malaysia's 40.1% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 21.0%, 1.9× the median. (32 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 33.1% | 27.7% | 38.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 38.6% | 35.8% | 42.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 44.5% | 40.1% | 49.7% | 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 youth of upper secondary school age, both in Malaysia?
- Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both in Malaysia was 40.1% in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both recorded in Malaysia?
- The highest recorded value was 49.7% in 2021.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both recorded in Malaysia?
- The lowest recorded value was 27.7% in 2000.
- How does Malaysia rank for out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both?
- Malaysia ranks 51st out of 206 countries with data for 2025.
- Is out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both rising or falling in Malaysia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 5.2%. 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 youth of upper secondary school age, both sexes (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