Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which principals' instructional leadership predicts teacher self-efficacy, in order to identify whether a relationship exists between principals' perceived instructional leadership practices and teachers perceived self-efficacy in classroom management, instruction, and student engagement, while controlling for several principal, teacher, and school characteristics. Design/methodology/approach: The data employed in this study were both teacher- and school-level data sets obtained from the Teaching and Learning International Survey, which was administered by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in 2013. A two-level mixed model was employed in the analysis of the data by adding adjusted weights at both levels for the complex survey data. Findings: The results indicated a significant and positive relationship between principals' perceived instructional leadership practice and teachers' self-efficacy in all three aspects. Also, gender, experience, tenure status, and formal in-service training of teachers were found to be the key factors that have significant effects on teachers' self-efficacy perceptions. Practical implications: Findings suggested that international effort for mandating instructional leadership in schools is a worthwhile strategy, which can help teachers develop a greater sense of ability in classroom management, instruction, and student engagement. Originality/value: This study is the first of its kind to examine the relationship between instructional leadership and teachers' perceived self-efficacy in multiple areas related to teaching.