Malawi: School enrollment, secondary (% net)

Key figures

What the numbers say

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 2.76 percentage points in 1999 and the biggest yearly fall was 3.07 percentage points in 2001. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2009 to 2018 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.75 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 85% of the movement over 9 observed years.

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

How it compares

In 2018, Malawi had the 38th highest value of the 43 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 2018 ranking

• Guatemala — 35th of 43: 43.78%
• Eritrea — 36th of 43: 41.58%
• Pakistan — 37th of 43: 37.4%
• Burkina Faso — 39th of 43: 31%
• Mauritania — 40th of 43: 30.98%
• Mali — 41st of 43: 29.93%

What this measures

Net enrollment rate is the ratio of children of official school age who are enrolled in school to the population of the corresponding official school age. Secondary education completes the provision of basic education that began at the primary level, and aims at laying the foundations for lifelong learning and human development, by offering more subject- or skill-oriented instruction using more specialized teachers.

Limitations: Enrollment indicators are based on annual school surveys, but do not necessarily reflect actual attendance or dropout rates during the year. Also, the length of education differs across countries and can influence enrollment rates, although the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) tries to minimize the difference. For example, a shorter duration for primary education tends to increase the rate; a longer one to decrease it (in part because older children are more at risk of dropping out). Moreover, age at enrollment may be inaccurately estimated or misstated, especially in communities where registration of births is not strictly enforced.

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

All 19 values

School enrollment, secondary (% net) in nearby economies

• Burkina Faso — 31% (2018)
• Burundi — 27.52% (2018)
• Cabo Verde — 70.43% (2018)
• Cameroon — 45.99% (2016)
• Eritrea — 41.58% (2018)
• Eswatini — 41.7% (2015)
• Ghana — 57.24% (2019)
• Lesotho — 41.35% (2016)
• Madagascar — 29.85% (2018)
• Mali — 29.93% (2018)
• Mauritania

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 school enrollment, secondary (% net)?

34.24% in 2018, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1998?

It is up 7.11 percentage points from 27.12% in 1998. The highest value was 34.25% in 2015 and the lowest 23.44% in 2005.

How does Malawi rank?

38th highest of 43 economies with data for 2018.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, 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).

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SE.SEC.NENR, 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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