Malawi: Expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education)

Key figures

Over five years it is up 9.28 percentage points from 34.64% in 2011. Since 1971 it is up 12.15 percentage points from 31.77% in 1971. The World Bank has no value for 23 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2016, Malawi's expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education) fell 0.03 percentage points on 2015 (from 43.95% to 43.92%).

Across the 15 yearly changes before that (1972 to 2015), the average change was +1.35 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 7.38 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 13.77 percentage points in 1996 and the biggest yearly fall was 12.44 percentage points in 2000. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2016, Malawi had the 2nd highest value of the 37 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Malawi in the 2016 ranking

• Togo — 1st of 37: 64.06%
• Israel — 3rd of 37: 38.91%
• Ireland — 4th of 37: 37.32%
• Paraguay — 5th of 37: 36.44%

What this measures

Expenditure on primary education is expressed as a percentage of total general government expenditure on education. General government usually refers to local, regional and central governments.

Limitations: Data disaggregated by level of education are estimates in some instances. It is often difficult to separate lower from upper secondary education expenditure, or pre-primary from primary.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a median.

All 23 values

Expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education) in nearby economies

• Benin — 49.81% (2015)
• Burkina Faso — 57.87% (2015)
• Cabo Verde — 38.09% (2017)
• Côte d'Ivoire — 47.29% (2018)
• Ethiopia — 27.45% (2015)
• Gambia, The — 55.84% (2015)
• Guinea — 61.65% (2018)
• Kenya — 36.34% (2015)

More education data for Malawi

• Primary school starting age (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Lower secondary school starting age (years) — 12 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, pupils — 4.75 million (2024)
• School enrollment, primary (% gross) — 139.02% (2024)
• School enrollment, primary, female (% gross) — 140.69% (2024)
• School enrollment, primary, male (% gross) — 137.34% (2024)
• Secondary education, pupils — 1.16 million (2023)
• School enrollment, secondary (% gross) — 36.64% (2023)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Malawi's expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education)?

43.92% in 2016, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1971?

It is up 12.15 percentage points from 31.77% in 1971. The highest value was 65.26% in 1999 and the lowest 31.77% in 1971.

How does Malawi rank?

2nd highest of 37 economies with data for 2016.

Is the latest change in expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education) unusual for Malawi?

In 2016, Malawi's expenditure on primary education (% of government expenditure on education) fell 0.03 percentage points on 2015 (from 43.95% to 43.92%). Across the 15 yearly changes before that (1972 to 2015), the average change was +1.35 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 7.38 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SE.XPD.PRIM.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Stat Bulk Data Download Service, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), uri: https://uis.unesco.org/bdds, publisher: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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