Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Malawi

Malawi: Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower was 6.7% in 2019. ▼ Falling

Latest (2019)
6.7%
Change on year
up 21.2%
World rank
50th
of 148 countries
All-time high
12.5%
in 2005
All-time low
5.5%
in 2018
Years of data
11
2002–2019

Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Malawi, 2002–2019

02.557.51012.52002201020192002: 9.9 %2004: 9.5 %2005: 12.5 %2006: 11.1 %2007: 10 %2008: 7.1 %2009: 7.7 %2015: 7.2 %2016: 7.7 %2018: 5.5 %2019: 6.7 %

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.

Analysis

The most recent figure for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Malawi is 6.7%, measured in 2019.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 21.2% on the previous year and down 13.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Malawi peaked at 12.5% in 2005 and was at its lowest, 5.5%, in 2018.

Malawi ranks 50th of 148 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 11 years of available data.

Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Malawi, year by year

Annual values for Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower secondary school age, female (%) in Malawi, 2002 to 2019.
Year % Change
2002 9.9%
2004 9.5% -3.6%
2005 12.5% +31.1%
2006 11.1% -11.5%
2007 10.0% -9.2%
2008 7.1% -29.3%
2009 7.7% +8.6%
2015 7.2% -6.8%
2016 7.7% +7.5%
2018 5.5% -28.7%
2019 6.7% +21.2%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 9.7% 7.1% 12.5% 7
2010s 6.8% 5.5% 7.7% 4

Countries ranked near Malawi

  1. 47 Lesotho 7.2% compare
  2. 48 Bhutan 6.8% compare
  3. 49 Cambodia 6.7% compare
  4. 51 Vanuatu 6.4% compare
  5. 52 Tajikistan 6.3% compare
  6. 53 Turks and Caicos Islands 6.3% compare

See the full ranking of 191 places →

More reference data data for Malawi

All data for Malawi →

Frequently asked questions

What is out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Malawi?
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Malawi was 6.7% in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower recorded in Malawi?
The highest recorded value was 12.5% in 2005.
What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower recorded in Malawi?
The lowest recorded value was 5.5% in 2018.
How does Malawi rank for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower?
Malawi ranks 50th out of 148 countries with data for 2019.
Is out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower rising or falling in Malawi?
Over the last ten years it is down 13.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Malawi data come from?
The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower secondary school age, female (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 11 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Malawi. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 10 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/out-of-school-rate-for-children-and-adolescents-of-primary-and-lower-secondary-school-age-2/malawi/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/out-of-school-rate-for-children-and-adolescents-of-primary-and-lower-secondary-school-age-2/malawi/">Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Malawi</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower secondary school age, female (%)
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
191 places, 4,340 data points, 1970–2019
Last refreshed

Proportion of children and adolescents in the official age range for primary and lower secondary education who are not enrolled in primary or lower secondary education. To calculate the indicator, the number of students of the official age for primary and lower secondary education enrolled in primary or lower secondary education is subtracted from the total population of primary and lower secondary education. The result is expressed as a percentage of the population of the official age for primary and lower secondary education. For more information, consult the UNESCO Institute of Statistics website: http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/