Education · East Asia & Pacific · Upper-middle income
Malaysia: education in numbers
Pre-primary enrolment is 87.5% (2021), 64th of 176 in the world and 12th of 30 in East Asia & Pacific. Primary enrolment is 90.4% (2024), 163rd of 191 in the world and 27th of 30 in East Asia & Pacific. Primary completion is 87.7% (2024), 118th of 168 in the world and 21st of 26 in East Asia & Pacific.
Pre-primary enrolment
MalaysiaEast Asia & PacificUpper-middle incomeWorld
Primary enrolment
MalaysiaEast Asia & PacificUpper-middle incomeWorld
12 indicators
Education: Malaysia in detail
Latest reported value, world rank and rank within East Asia & Pacific; 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 | 87.5%2021 | 64/176 | 12/30 | 52.0% | 79.1% | 96.7% | +8.4 ppsince 2010 | 83.2% | 77.9% | 60.9% | |
| Primary enrolmentPrimary school enrolment, % gross | 90.4%2024 | 163/191 | 27/30 | 97.5% | 98.9% | 93.2% | −6.8 ppsince 2014 | 100.0% | 100.7% | 102.2% | |
| Primary completionPrimary completion rate, % of age group | 87.7%2024 | 118/168 | 21/26 | 100.6% | 98.9% | 94.0% | −9.2 ppsince 2014 | 95.4% | 95.2% | 88.0% | |
| Secondary enrolmentSecondary school enrolment, % gross | 80.3%2024 | 128/176 | 23/26 | 76.5% | 77.2% | 73.2% | −3.0 ppsince 2014 | 92.0% | 96.5% | 77.3% | |
| Lower secondary completionLower secondary completion rate, % of age group | 81.5%2024 | 109/168 | 20/26 | 84.8% | 84.5% | 75.2% | +0.1 ppsince 2014 | 97.3% | 93.0% | 77.9% | |
| Tertiary enrolmentTertiary enrolment, % gross | 38.5%2024 | 100/172 | 16/27 | 27.6% | 36.7% | 39.7% | +0.1 ppsince 2014 | 63.3% | 64.6% | 43.6% | |
| Out-of-school childrenChildren out of school, % of primary school age | 12.0%2024 | 38/178 | 3/29 | 2.8% | 4.6% | 11.8% | +5.0 ppsince 2014 | — | 4.0% | — | |
| Adult literacyAdult literacy rate, % of people 15+ | 95.8%2022 | 58/141 | 15/23 | 88.7% | 93.1% | 95.0%2019 | +2.6 ppsince 2010 | 96.6% | 96.2% | 87.7% | |
| Youth literacyYouth literacy rate, % of people 15–24 | 98.8%2022 | 63/148 | 12/23 | 97.2% | 98.4% | 96.8%2019 | +0.4 ppsince 2010 | 99.1% | 99.3% | 93.1% | |
| Pupils per teacherPupils per teacher, primary | 11.72017 | 148/173 | 26/27 | 19.6 | 12.6 | · | −22%since 2007 | 17.5 | 18.4 | 23.4 | |
| Education spendingPublic spending on education, % of GDP | 3.5%2023 | 119/184 | 19/29 | 6.0% | 5.0% | 3.9% | −2.0 ppsince 2013 | 3.5% | 3.6% | 3.6% | |
| Education, % of budgetEducation spending, % of government expenditure | 14.1%2023 | 71/179 | 10/28 | 21.4% | 18.4% | 15.6% | −5.4 ppsince 2013 | 13.0% | 15.1% | 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
- Pre-primary enrolment+8.4 pp87.5% in 2021
- Lower secondary completion+0.1 pp81.5% in 2024
- Tertiary enrolment+0.1 pp38.5% in 2024
- Adult literacy+2.6 pp95.8% in 2022
Worse than ten years ago
- Primary completion−9.2 pp87.7% in 2024
- Secondary enrolment−3.0 pp80.3% in 2024
- Out-of-school children+5.0 pp12.0% in 2024
Only indicators where higher or lower is clearly better are rated (for example, unemployment down is better, life expectancy up is better).
neighbours
Malaysia and its neighbours
Countries sharing a land border with Malaysia. Latest values since 2005; the highest in each row is marked.
| Indicator | Malaysia | Indonesia | Philippines | Thailand | Singapore | Brunei |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-primary enrolment | 87.5%2021 | 62.3%2018 | 90.2%2021 | 74.4%2022 | 96.1%2020 | 63.5%2020 |
| Primary enrolment | 90.4%2024 | 100.4%2025 | 94.0%2024 | 100.7%2025 | 100.2%2023 | 94.8%2024 |
| Primary completion | 87.7%2024 | 100.0%2023 | 91.4%2024 | 107.1%2025 | 96.8%2023 | 99.4%2024 |
| Secondary enrolment | 80.3%2024 | 97.2%2025 | 85.3%2024 | 92.1%2025 | 103.1%2023 | 91.8%2023 |
| Lower secondary completion | 81.5%2024 | 99.7%2025 | 84.8%2024 | 95.7%2025 | 101.6%2023 | 105.0%2024 |
| Tertiary enrolment | 38.5%2024 | 44.9%2023 | 47.4%2024 | 49.1%2025 | 97.3%2023 | 36.4%2023 |
| Out-of-school children | 12.0%2024 | 0.9%2025 | 11.6%2024 | 0.8%2025 | 0.2%2023 | 3.6%2024 |
| Adult literacy | 95.8%2022 | 96.0%2020 | 98.5%2020 | 91.1%2022 | 97.7%2021 | 96.1%2011 |
| Youth literacy | 98.8%2022 | 93.8%2022 | 99.8%2022 | 98.2%2022 | 99.9%2021 | 99.4%2011 |