School age population, primary education, both sexes (number) in Malawi
Malawi: School age population, primary education, both sexes (number) was 3.24 million number in 2020. ▲ Rising
School age population, primary education, both sexes in Malawi, 1970–2020
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in number.
Analysis
In 2020, school age population, primary education, both sexes in Malawi stood at 3.24 million number. That is the highest value across all 51 years on record.
That represents a change of up 2.0% on the previous year and up 31.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school age population, primary education, both sexes in Malawi peaked at 3.24 million number in 2020 and was at its lowest, 747,279 number, in 1970.
Malawi ranks 46th of 206 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 51 years of available data.
School age population, primary education, both sexes (number) in Malawi, year by year
| Year | number | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 747,279 number | — |
| 1971 | 772,807 number | +3.4% |
| 1972 | 800,611 number | +3.6% |
| 1973 | 828,926 number | +3.5% |
| 1974 | 855,876 number | +3.3% |
| 1975 | 879,894 number | +2.8% |
| 1976 | 911,497 number | +3.6% |
| 1977 | 945,341 number | +3.7% |
| 1978 | 978,945 number | +3.6% |
| 1979 | 1.01 million number | +3.1% |
| 1980 | 1.04 million number | +2.6% |
| 1981 | 1.07 million number | +3.0% |
| 1982 | 1.10 million number | +3.0% |
| 1983 | 1.13 million number | +3.2% |
| 1984 | 1.18 million number | +3.7% |
| 1985 | 1.23 million number | +4.2% |
| 1986 | 1.29 million number | +5.5% |
| 1987 | 1.37 million number | +5.8% |
| 1988 | 1.44 million number | +5.3% |
| 1989 | 1.49 million number | +3.9% |
| 1990 | 1.53 million number | +2.1% |
| 1991 | 1.55 million number | +1.7% |
| 1992 | 1.57 million number | +1.3% |
| 1993 | 1.59 million number | +1.3% |
| 1994 | 1.62 million number | +1.7% |
| 1995 | 1.66 million number | +2.2% |
| 1996 | 1.72 million number | +3.7% |
| 1997 | 2.27 million number | +32.4% |
| 1998 | 1.84 million number | -19.1% |
| 1999 | 1.89 million number | +2.8% |
| 2000 | 1.93 million number | +2.1% |
| 2001 | 1.98 million number | +2.4% |
| 2002 | 2.03 million number | +2.6% |
| 2003 | 2.08 million number | +2.7% |
| 2004 | 2.14 million number | +2.7% |
| 2005 | 2.20 million number | +2.7% |
| 2006 | 2.26 million number | +2.8% |
| 2007 | 2.33 million number | +2.9% |
| 2008 | 2.39 million number | +2.9% |
| 2009 | 2.46 million number | +2.9% |
| 2010 | 2.46 million number | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 2.53 million number | +2.9% |
| 2012 | 2.61 million number | +2.9% |
| 2013 | 2.69 million number | +3.2% |
| 2014 | 2.78 million number | +3.3% |
| 2015 | 2.87 million number | +3.3% |
| 2016 | 2.96 million number | +3.1% |
| 2017 | 3.05 million number | +2.9% |
| 2018 | 3.12 million number | +2.3% |
| 2019 | 3.17 million number | +1.7% |
| 2020 | 3.24 million number | +2.0% |
Malawi compared with similar countries
- Malawi's 3.24 million number is above the median for low income countries, which is 2.84 million number, 1.1× the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Malawi's 3.24 million number is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 2.02 million number, 1.6× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where School age population, primary education, both sexes (number) in Malawi changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | +32.4% | 1.72 million number | 2.27 million number |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 873,074 number | 747,279 number | 1.01 million number | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.23 million number | 1.04 million number | 1.49 million number | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.72 million number | 1.53 million number | 2.27 million number | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.18 million number | 1.93 million number | 2.46 million number | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.82 million number | 2.46 million number | 3.17 million number | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.24 million number | 3.24 million number | 3.24 million number | 1 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More education data for Malawi
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 98.49 (2007)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 99.57 (2023)
- 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)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school age population, primary education, both sexes in Malawi?
- School age population, primary education, both sexes in Malawi was 3.24 million number in 2020, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school age population, primary education, both sexes recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 3.24 million number in 2020.
- What is the lowest school age population, primary education, both sexes recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 747,279 number in 1970.
- How does Malawi rank for school age population, primary education, both sexes?
- Malawi ranks 46th out of 206 countries with data for 2020.
- Is school age population, primary education, both sexes rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 31.4%. 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, primary education, both sexes (number). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 51 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Population of the age-group theoretically corresponding to primary education as indicated by theoretical entrance age and duration.