Share of the population with at least some formal education in Malawi
Malawi: Share of the population with at least some formal education was 91.8% in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Share of the population with at least some formal education in Malawi, 1870–2020
Source: Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2020, share of the population with at least some formal education in Malawi stood at 91.8%. That is the highest value across all 31 years on record.
That represents a change of up 8.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the population with at least some formal education in Malawi peaked at 91.8% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 1870.
That places Malawi 77th out of 111 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2 |
| 1880s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 2 |
| 1890s | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 2 |
| 1900s | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.5% | 2 |
| 1910s | 6.8% | 4.8% | 8.7% | 2 |
| 1920s | 13.4% | 11.7% | 15.2% | 2 |
| 1930s | 20.5% | 18.6% | 22.3% | 2 |
| 1940s | 28.1% | 26.1% | 30.2% | 2 |
| 1950s | 35.8% | 35.0% | 36.6% | 2 |
| 1960s | 39.4% | 38.0% | 40.7% | 2 |
| 1970s | 51.2% | 50.4% | 52.1% | 2 |
| 1980s | 52.0% | 51.5% | 52.5% | 2 |
| 1990s | 58.2% | 56.7% | 59.7% | 2 |
| 2000s | 72.3% | 67.0% | 77.7% | 2 |
| 2010s | 86.2% | 84.3% | 88.2% | 2 |
| 2020s | 91.8% | 91.8% | 91.8% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More education data for Malawi
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 57.3% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 40.1% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 139.0% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 87,834 (2024)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 3.59 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 140.7% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the population with at least some formal education in Malawi?
- Share of the population with at least some formal education in Malawi was 91.8% in 2020, according to Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of the population with at least some formal education recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 91.8% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of the population with at least some formal education recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 1870.
- How does Malawi rank for share of the population with at least some formal education?
- Malawi ranks 77th out of 111 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of the population with at least some formal education rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 8.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Malawi data come from?
- The figures come from Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of the population with at least some formal education. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 31 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Based on the population aged 15 years and older.