School age population, upper secondary education, both sexes in Malaysia
Malaysia: School age population, upper secondary education, both sexes was 1.65 million in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
1.65 million
Change on year
up 0.6%
World rank
47th
of 220 countries
All-time high
1.79 million
in 2020
All-time low
703,615
in 1970
Years of data
56
1970–2025
School age population, upper secondary education, both sexes in Malaysia, 1970–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Analysis
In 2025, school age population, upper secondary education, both sexes in Malaysia stood at 1.65 million.
That represents a change of up 0.6% on the previous year and down 4.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school age population, upper secondary education, both sexes in Malaysia peaked at 1.79 million in 2020 and was at its lowest, 703,615, in 1970.
That places Malaysia 47th out of 220 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, upper secondary education, both sexes in Malaysia, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 703,615 | — |
| 1971 | 730,487 | +3.8% |
| 1972 | 754,710 | +3.3% |
| 1973 | 778,087 | +3.1% |
| 1974 | 799,938 | +2.8% |
| 1975 | 820,370 | +2.6% |
| 1976 | 839,976 | +2.4% |
| 1977 | 858,737 | +2.2% |
| 1978 | 875,975 | +2.0% |
| 1979 | 891,160 | +1.7% |
| 1980 | 902,112 | +1.2% |
| 1981 | 917,496 | +1.7% |
| 1982 | 926,193 | +0.9% |
| 1983 | 932,546 | +0.7% |
| 1984 | 943,112 | +1.1% |
| 1985 | 959,195 | +1.7% |
| 1986 | 980,595 | +2.2% |
| 1987 | 1.00 million | +2.3% |
| 1988 | 1.03 million | +2.4% |
| 1989 | 1.06 million | +2.7% |
| 1990 | 1.09 million | +2.9% |
| 1991 | 1.12 million | +3.0% |
| 1992 | 1.15 million | +2.5% |
| 1993 | 1.16 million | +1.3% |
| 1994 | 1.17 million | +1.1% |
| 1995 | 1.19 million | +1.5% |
| 1996 | 1.22 million | +2.1% |
| 1997 | 1.25 million | +2.6% |
| 1998 | 1.29 million | +2.8% |
| 1999 | 1.33 million | +3.2% |
| 2000 | 1.38 million | +4.3% |
| 2001 | 1.46 million | +5.2% |
| 2002 | 1.52 million | +4.4% |
| 2003 | 1.56 million | +2.6% |
| 2004 | 1.59 million | +1.8% |
| 2005 | 1.62 million | +2.1% |
| 2006 | 1.65 million | +2.1% |
| 2007 | 1.68 million | +1.5% |
| 2008 | 1.69 million | +0.8% |
| 2009 | 1.70 million | +0.7% |
| 2010 | 1.72 million | +0.9% |
| 2011 | 1.73 million | +0.4% |
| 2012 | 1.72 million | -0.5% |
| 2013 | 1.71 million | -0.6% |
| 2014 | 1.71 million | +0.2% |
| 2015 | 1.73 million | +0.9% |
| 2016 | 1.74 million | +0.9% |
| 2017 | 1.75 million | +0.6% |
| 2018 | 1.76 million | +0.4% |
| 2019 | 1.77 million | +0.7% |
| 2020 | 1.79 million | +1.0% |
| 2021 | 1.76 million | -1.3% |
| 2022 | 1.71 million | -3.0% |
| 2023 | 1.66 million | -2.8% |
| 2024 | 1.64 million | -1.4% |
| 2025 | 1.65 million | +0.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 805,306 | 703,615 | 891,160 | 10 |
| 1980s | 964,635 | 902,112 | 1.06 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.20 million | 1.09 million | 1.33 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.59 million | 1.38 million | 1.70 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.73 million | 1.71 million | 1.77 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.70 million | 1.64 million | 1.79 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near Malaysia
More education data for Malaysia
- Theoretical duration of upper secondary education (years), annual 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of secondary education (years), annual growth 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), gaps filled 2,024 tertiary education (2024)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), annual growth 0.0494 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 273,792 (2024)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre primary education 2 (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 4 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 70.7% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 21.3% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school age population, upper secondary education, both sexes in Malaysia?
- School age population, upper secondary education, both sexes in Malaysia was 1.65 million in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school age population, upper secondary education, both sexes recorded in Malaysia?
- The highest recorded value was 1.79 million in 2020.
- What is the lowest school age population, upper secondary education, both sexes recorded in Malaysia?
- The lowest recorded value was 703,615 in 1970.
- How does Malaysia rank for school age population, upper secondary education, both sexes?
- Malaysia ranks 47th out of 220 countries with data for 2025.
- Is school age population, upper secondary education, both sexes rising or falling in Malaysia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.4%. 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 School age population, upper secondary education, both sexes (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