School life expectancy, primary and secondary, male (years) (School) in Malawi
Malawi: School life expectancy, primary and secondary, male (years) (School) was 11.3 years in 2019. ▲ Rising
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, male in Malawi, 1972–2019
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
In 2019, school life expectancy, primary and secondary, male in Malawi stood at 11.3 years.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.4% on the previous year and up 8.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary and secondary, male in Malawi peaked at 11.73 years in 2014 and was at its lowest, 4.29 years, in 1972.
That places Malawi 112th out of 193 countries with data for 2019, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 43 years of available data.
School life expectancy, primary and secondary, male (years) (School) in Malawi, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | 4.29 years | — |
| 1973 | 4.65 years | +8.4% |
| 1975 | 5.4 years | +16.0% |
| 1976 | 5.43 years | +0.6% |
| 1977 | 5.4 years | -0.6% |
| 1978 | 5.31 years | -1.7% |
| 1979 | 5.34 years | +0.6% |
| 1980 | 5.72 years | +7.0% |
| 1981 | 5.75 years | +0.6% |
| 1982 | 6.03 years | +4.7% |
| 1983 | 5.72 years | -5.1% |
| 1984 | 5.41 years | -5.4% |
| 1985 | 5.48 years | +1.2% |
| 1986 | 5.37 years | -1.8% |
| 1987 | 5.45 years | +1.3% |
| 1988 | 5.33 years | -2.1% |
| 1989 | 5.72 years | +7.3% |
| 1990 | 6.11 years | +6.8% |
| 1991 | 6.31 years | +3.3% |
| 1993 | 7.61 years | +20.5% |
| 1994 | 7.78 years | +2.3% |
| 1995 | 11.65 years | +49.8% |
| 1996 | 11.43 years | -1.9% |
| 1999 | 11.71 years | +2.4% |
| 2000 | 10.8 years | -7.8% |
| 2001 | 11.1 years | +2.8% |
| 2002 | 11.07 years | -0.3% |
| 2004 | 10.1 years | -8.7% |
| 2005 | 9.99 years | -1.1% |
| 2006 | 10.02 years | +0.4% |
| 2007 | 9.89 years | -1.3% |
| 2008 | 10.49 years | +6.1% |
| 2009 | 10.37 years | -1.2% |
| 2010 | 10.76 years | +3.7% |
| 2011 | 10.91 years | +1.5% |
| 2012 | 11 years | +0.7% |
| 2013 | 11.52 years | +4.7% |
| 2014 | 11.73 years | +1.8% |
| 2015 | 11.66 years | -0.5% |
| 2016 | 11.45 years | -1.8% |
| 2017 | 11.37 years | -0.7% |
| 2018 | 11.25 years | -1.1% |
| 2019 | 11.3 years | +0.4% |
Malawi compared with similar countries
- Malawi's 11.3 years is above the median for low income countries, which is 8.83 years, 1.3× the median. (23 countries reporting)
- Malawi's 11.3 years is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 10.19 years, 1.1× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where School life expectancy, primary and secondary, male (years) (School) 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | +49.8% | 7.78 years | 11.65 years |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 5.12 years | 4.29 years | 5.43 years | 7 |
| 1980s | 5.6 years | 5.33 years | 6.03 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 8.94 years | 6.11 years | 11.71 years | 7 |
| 2000s | 10.43 years | 9.89 years | 11.1 years | 9 |
| 2010s | 11.29 years | 10.76 years | 11.73 years | 10 |
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 life expectancy, primary and secondary, male in Malawi?
- School life expectancy, primary and secondary, male in Malawi was 11.3 years in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, male recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 11.73 years in 2014.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary and secondary, male recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.29 years in 1972.
- How does Malawi rank for school life expectancy, primary and secondary, male?
- Malawi ranks 112th out of 193 countries with data for 2019.
- Is school life expectancy, primary and secondary, male rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 8.9%. 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 life expectancy, primary and secondary, male (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Number of years a person of school entrance age can expect to spend within the specified level of education. For a child of a certain age a, the school life expectancy is calculated as the sum of the age specific enrolment rates for the levels of education specified. The part of the enrolment that is not distributed by age is divided by the school-age population for the level of education they are enrolled in, and multiplied by the duration of that level of education. The result is then added to the sum of the age-specific enrolment rates. A relatively high SLE indicates greater probability for children to spend more years in education and higher overall retention within the education system. It must be noted that the expected number of years does not necessarily coincide with the expected number of grades of education completed, because of repetition. Since school life expectancy is an average based on participation in different levels of education, the expected number of years of schooling may be pulled down by the magnitude of children who never go to school. Those children who are in school may benefit from many more years of education than the average.