Share of the population with at least some formal education in Malaysia
Malaysia: Share of the population with at least some formal education was 97.8% in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Share of the population with at least some formal education in Malaysia, 1870–2020
Source: Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Malaysia recorded 97.8% for share of the population with at least some formal education in 2020. That is the highest value across all 31 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the population with at least some formal education in Malaysia peaked at 97.8% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.3%, in 1870.
That places Malaysia 47th 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 | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.5% | 2 |
| 1880s | 0.8% | 0.6% | 0.9% | 2 |
| 1890s | 1.4% | 1.2% | 1.6% | 2 |
| 1900s | 3.7% | 2.2% | 5.2% | 2 |
| 1910s | 9.8% | 8.4% | 11.2% | 2 |
| 1920s | 17.0% | 14.0% | 20.0% | 2 |
| 1930s | 27.6% | 25.4% | 29.9% | 2 |
| 1940s | 35.8% | 33.8% | 37.7% | 2 |
| 1950s | 44.1% | 42.0% | 46.3% | 2 |
| 1960s | 55.2% | 52.0% | 58.4% | 2 |
| 1970s | 68.7% | 66.5% | 70.8% | 2 |
| 1980s | 78.6% | 76.2% | 80.9% | 2 |
| 1990s | 86.7% | 84.9% | 88.4% | 2 |
| 2000s | 92.1% | 91.1% | 93.1% | 2 |
| 2010s | 96.2% | 95.6% | 96.9% | 2 |
| 2020s | 97.8% | 97.8% | 97.8% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Malaysia
More education data for Malaysia
- Duration of pre-primary education 2 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 4 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 70.7% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 21.3% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 90.4% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 273,792 (2024)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.54 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 90.4% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the population with at least some formal education in Malaysia?
- Share of the population with at least some formal education in Malaysia was 97.8% 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 Malaysia?
- The highest recorded value was 97.8% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of the population with at least some formal education recorded in Malaysia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3% in 1870.
- How does Malaysia rank for share of the population with at least some formal education?
- Malaysia ranks 47th out of 111 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of the population with at least some formal education rising or falling in Malaysia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Malaysia 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.