Education · Sub-Saharan Africa · Low income
Malawi: education in numbers
Pre-primary enrolment is 83.6% (2015). Primary enrolment is 139.0% (2024), 3rd of 191 in the world and 3rd of 41 in Sub-Saharan Africa. Primary completion is 70.1% (2024), 149th of 168 in the world and 21st of 36 in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Primary enrolment
MalawiSub-Saharan AfricaLow incomeWorld
Primary completion
MalawiSub-Saharan AfricaLow incomeWorld
12 indicators
Education: Malawi in detail
Latest reported value, world rank and rank within Sub-Saharan Africa; values around 2000, 2010, 2020; group and world columns are World Bank aggregates.
| Indicator | Latest | World rank | In region | ~2000 | ~2010 | ~2020 | 10-year change | Region | Income group | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-primary enrolmentPre-primary enrolment, % gross | 83.6%2015 | — | — | · | · | · | — | 28.1% | 20.1% | 60.9% | |
| Primary enrolmentPrimary school enrolment, % gross | 139.0%2024 | 3/191 | 3/41 | 139.2% | 136.0% | 136.4% | −1.7 ppsince 2014 | 97.1% | 97.6% | 102.2% | |
| Primary completionPrimary completion rate, % of age group | 70.1%2024 | 149/168 | 21/36 | 64.4% | 65.9% | 86.0%2021 | −7.6 ppsince 2014 | 68.9% | 62.9% | 88.0% | |
| Secondary enrolmentSecondary school enrolment, % gross | 36.6%2023 | 168/176 | 26/34 | 31.1% | 33.7% | 41.5% | −1.2 ppsince 2013 | 45.9% | 41.5% | 77.3% | |
| Lower secondary completionLower secondary completion rate, % of age group | 24.4%2024 | 165/168 | 31/34 | 31.7%1999 | 18.8% | 21.0%2021 | +1.6 ppsince 2014 | 44.4% | 38.6% | 77.9% | |
| Tertiary enrolmentTertiary enrolment, % gross | 2.7%2022 | 171/172 | 34/34 | 0.3% | 1.3% | 2.4% | +1.9 ppsince 2012 | 9.3% | 9.3% | 43.6% | |
| Out-of-school childrenChildren out of school, % of primary school age | 2.1%2022 | 110/178 | 32/38 | 2.0%1999 | 1.0%2009 | 2.2%2021 | +1.1 ppsince 2009 | — | 24.1% | — | |
| Adult literacyAdult literacy rate, % of people 15+ | 70.2%2020 | 115/141 | 22/41 | 64.1%1998 | · | 70.2% | +6.0 ppsince 1998 | 68.7% | 63.6% | 87.7% | |
| Youth literacyYouth literacy rate, % of people 15–24 | 80.7%2020 | 126/148 | 24/42 | 76.0%1998 | · | 80.7% | +4.7 ppsince 1998 | 79.0% | 75.4% | 93.1% | |
| Pupils per teacherPupils per teacher, primary | 58.72018 | 3/173 | 3/40 | 63.21999 | 79.3 | 58.72018 | −25%since 2008 | 37.4 | 39.8 | 23.4 | |
| Education spendingPublic spending on education, % of GDP | 2.7%2022 | 153/184 | 31/43 | 3.6% | 2.4% | 2.7%2022 | +0.2 ppsince 2012 | 3.3% | 3.0% | 3.6% | |
| Education, % of budgetEducation spending, % of government expenditure | 16.0%2024 | 45/179 | 18/42 | 0.0% | 12.5% | 20.2% | −0.6 ppsince 2014 | 15.4% | 16.7% | 14.0% |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)“·” — no value reported within two years of that date. World rank counts countries with a recent value.
Better than ten years ago
- Lower secondary completion+1.6 pp24.4% in 2024
- Tertiary enrolment+1.9 pp2.7% in 2022
- Adult literacy+6.0 pp70.2% in 2020
- Youth literacy+4.7 pp80.7% in 2020
Worse than ten years ago
- Primary completion−7.6 pp70.1% in 2024
- Secondary enrolment−1.2 pp36.6% in 2023
- Out-of-school children+1.1 pp2.1% in 2022
Only indicators where higher or lower is clearly better are rated (for example, unemployment down is better, life expectancy up is better).
neighbours
Malawi and its neighbours
Countries sharing a land border with Malawi. Latest values since 2005; the highest in each row is marked.
| Indicator | Malawi | Tanzania | Mozambique | Zambia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-primary enrolment | 83.6%2015 | 77.3%2021 | — | 8.7%2017 |
| Primary enrolment | 139.0%2024 | 92.7%2024 | 119.2%2022 | 115.6%2024 |
| Primary completion | 70.1%2024 | 77.3%2024 | 72.4%2022 | 81.8%2013 |
| Secondary enrolment | 36.6%2023 | 28.2%2021 | 37.2%2017 | 56.8%2024 |
| Lower secondary completion | 24.4%2024 | 34.2%2024 | 26.1%2019 | 55.3%2013 |
| Tertiary enrolment | 2.7%2022 | 4.0%2024 | 7.5%2018 | 4.0%2012 |
| Out-of-school children | 2.1%2022 | 16.4%2024 | 1.0%2022 | 3.5%2024 |
| Adult literacy | 70.2%2020 | 78.2%2022 | 61.7%2022 | 71.8%2024 |
| Youth literacy | 80.7%2020 | 87.1%2022 | 71.4%2022 | 77.7%2024 |