Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in Malaysia
Malaysia: Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school was 81.1% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in Malaysia, 1998–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Malaysia recorded 81.1% for share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in 2024. That is the highest value across all 21 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 4.0% on the previous year and up 4.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in Malaysia peaked at 81.1% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 49.7%, in 1999.
Malaysia ranks 59th of 178 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 21 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 51.7% | 49.7% | 53.7% | 2 |
| 2000s | 58.0% | 50.6% | 64.8% | 9 |
| 2010s | 75.9% | 66.0% | 80.1% | 5 |
| 2020s | 75.3% | 70.7% | 81.1% | 5 |
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 children enrolled in pre-primary school in Malaysia?
- Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in Malaysia was 81.1% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of children enrolled in pre-primary school recorded in Malaysia?
- The highest recorded value was 81.1% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of children enrolled in pre-primary school recorded in Malaysia?
- The lowest recorded value was 49.7% in 1999.
- How does Malaysia rank for share of children enrolled in pre-primary school?
- Malaysia ranks 59th out of 178 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of children enrolled in pre-primary school rising or falling in Malaysia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 4.5%. 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 (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
The share of children of pre-primary school age (typically 3–5 years old) who are enrolled in pre-primary education.