South Africa vs Sub-Saharan Africa: Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female

South Africa
695,479 number
in 2018
Sub-Saharan Africa
3.85 million number
in 2018
South Africa rank
33rd
Sub-Saharan Africa rank
34th

Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female over time

  • South Africa
  • Sub-Saharan Africa
01.0M2.0M3.0M4.0M197019942018

How they compare

Sub-Saharan Africa currently reports 3.85 million number against 695,479 number in South Africa, a difference of 3.15 million number.

That makes Sub-Saharan Africa's figure about 5.5 times South Africa's.

Across all 14 years both countries report, Sub-Saharan Africa has been ahead every year.

South Africa ranks 33rd and Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 34th of 187 countries.

Sub-Saharan Africa has averaged higher in every one of the 3 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade South Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Difference Ahead
1980s 183,548 number 466,443 number 282,896 number Sub-Saharan Africa
1990s 237,680 number 610,646 number 372,966 number Sub-Saharan Africa
2010s 621,155 number 3.49 million number 2.87 million number Sub-Saharan Africa

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female, South Africa or Sub-Saharan Africa?
Sub-Saharan Africa, at 3.85 million number against 695,479 number in South Africa as of 2018.
What is the difference in enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female between South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa?
3.15 million number, with Sub-Saharan Africa ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa?
14 years are reported by both, from 1988 to 2018.
How do South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa rank globally for enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female?
South Africa ranks 33rd and Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 34th of 187 countries.
Where does this data come from?
UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female (number). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

South Africa vs Sub-Saharan Africa: Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 10 September 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/compare/enrolment-in-tertiary-education-all-programmes-female-number/south-africa/sub-saharan-africa/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://education.statizoid.com/compare/enrolment-in-tertiary-education-all-programmes-female-number/south-africa/sub-saharan-africa/">South Africa vs Sub-Saharan Africa: Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female (number)
Unit
number
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
232 places, 7,150 data points, 1970–2020
Last refreshed

The total number of female students enrolled at public and private tertiary education institutions.