School age population, one year before the official primary … female in Malawi
Malawi: School age population, one year before the official primary … female was 298,390 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
298,390
Change on year
up 1.9%
World rank
49th
of 222 countries
All-time high
298,390
in 2025
All-time low
70,601
in 1970
Years of data
56
1970–2025
School age population, one year before the official primary entry in Malawi, 1970–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Analysis
Malawi recorded 298,390 for school age population, one year before the official primary entry in 2025. That is the highest value across all 56 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.9% on the previous year and up 7.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school age population, one year before the official primary entry in Malawi peaked at 298,390 in 2025 and was at its lowest, 70,601, in 1970.
That places Malawi 49th out of 222 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 56 years of available data.
School age population, one year before the official primary … female in Malawi, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 70,601 | — |
| 1971 | 72,529 | +2.7% |
| 1972 | 74,884 | +3.2% |
| 1973 | 77,232 | +3.1% |
| 1974 | 79,837 | +3.4% |
| 1975 | 82,158 | +2.9% |
| 1976 | 84,742 | +3.1% |
| 1977 | 87,403 | +3.1% |
| 1978 | 90,350 | +3.4% |
| 1979 | 93,723 | +3.7% |
| 1980 | 97,242 | +3.8% |
| 1981 | 101,178 | +4.0% |
| 1982 | 105,354 | +4.1% |
| 1983 | 109,670 | +4.1% |
| 1984 | 114,760 | +4.6% |
| 1985 | 120,170 | +4.7% |
| 1986 | 126,078 | +4.9% |
| 1987 | 130,521 | +3.5% |
| 1988 | 136,642 | +4.7% |
| 1989 | 142,275 | +4.1% |
| 1990 | 148,263 | +4.2% |
| 1991 | 153,429 | +3.5% |
| 1992 | 157,676 | +2.8% |
| 1993 | 163,048 | +3.4% |
| 1994 | 166,334 | +2.0% |
| 1995 | 162,507 | -2.3% |
| 1996 | 166,063 | +2.2% |
| 1997 | 170,293 | +2.5% |
| 1998 | 174,402 | +2.4% |
| 1999 | 178,464 | +2.3% |
| 2000 | 181,923 | +1.9% |
| 2001 | 185,456 | +1.9% |
| 2002 | 188,720 | +1.8% |
| 2003 | 193,906 | +2.7% |
| 2004 | 199,926 | +3.1% |
| 2005 | 204,898 | +2.5% |
| 2006 | 208,849 | +1.9% |
| 2007 | 214,900 | +2.9% |
| 2008 | 222,195 | +3.4% |
| 2009 | 231,336 | +4.1% |
| 2010 | 241,252 | +4.3% |
| 2011 | 251,302 | +4.2% |
| 2012 | 260,232 | +3.6% |
| 2013 | 267,502 | +2.8% |
| 2014 | 273,192 | +2.1% |
| 2015 | 277,259 | +1.5% |
| 2016 | 279,546 | +0.8% |
| 2017 | 282,178 | +0.9% |
| 2018 | 283,506 | +0.5% |
| 2019 | 286,443 | +1.0% |
| 2020 | 285,943 | -0.2% |
| 2021 | 284,978 | -0.3% |
| 2022 | 284,697 | -0.1% |
| 2023 | 288,485 | +1.3% |
| 2024 | 292,900 | +1.5% |
| 2025 | 298,390 | +1.9% |
Malawi compared with similar countries
- Malawi's 298,390 is below the median for low income countries, which is 316,831, 94% of the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Malawi's 298,390 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 208,287, 1.4× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 81,346 | 70,601 | 93,723 | 10 |
| 1980s | 118,389 | 97,242 | 142,275 | 10 |
| 1990s | 164,048 | 148,263 | 178,464 | 10 |
| 2000s | 203,211 | 181,923 | 231,336 | 10 |
| 2010s | 270,241 | 241,252 | 286,443 | 10 |
| 2020s | 289,232 | 284,697 | 298,390 | 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 school age population, one year before the official primary entry in Malawi?
- School age population, one year before the official primary entry in Malawi was 298,390 in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school age population, one year before the official primary entry recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 298,390 in 2025.
- What is the lowest school age population, one year before the official primary entry recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 70,601 in 1970.
- How does Malawi rank for school age population, one year before the official primary entry?
- Malawi ranks 49th out of 222 countries with data for 2025.
- Is school age population, one year before the official primary entry rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 7.6%. 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 School age population, one year before the official primary entry age, female (number). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 56 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release