Costa Rica vs South Africa: Share of population with no formal education
Costa Rica
1.8%
in 2020
South Africa
1.9%
in 2020
Costa Rica rank
71st
South Africa rank
68th
Share of population with no formal education over time
- Costa Rica
- South Africa
How they compare
South Africa currently reports 1.9% against 1.8% in Costa Rica, a difference of 0.1%.
That makes South Africa's figure about 1.1 times Costa Rica's.
The two have swapped places 3 times across 31 shared years of data; in 1870 it was Costa Rica ahead.
Costa Rica ranks 71st and South Africa ranks 68th of 111 countries.
Across the 16 decades both report, Costa Rica averaged higher in 3 and South Africa in 13.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Costa Rica | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 90.4% | 86.4% | 4.0% | Costa Rica |
| 1880s | 85.8% | 81.0% | 4.8% | Costa Rica |
| 1890s | 79.0% | 76.8% | 2.3% | Costa Rica |
| 1900s | 59.1% | 78.5% | 19.4% | South Africa |
| 1910s | 47.1% | 76.5% | 29.4% | South Africa |
| 1920s | 36.4% | 65.2% | 28.8% | South Africa |
| 1930s | 29.4% | 58.2% | 28.9% | South Africa |
| 1940s | 23.1% | 52.9% | 29.8% | South Africa |
| 1950s | 18.6% | 47.7% | 29.1% | South Africa |
| 1960s | 17.1% | 43.0% | 25.8% | South Africa |
| 1970s | 13.5% | 33.8% | 20.2% | South Africa |
| 1980s | 7.0% | 21.3% | 14.2% | South Africa |
| 1990s | 5.2% | 7.4% | 2.2% | South Africa |
| 2000s | 3.4% | 11.1% | 7.8% | South Africa |
| 2010s | 2.5% | 3.5% | 1.0% | South Africa |
| 2020s | 1.8% | 1.9% | 0.1% | South Africa |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher share of population with no formal education, Costa Rica or South Africa?
- South Africa, at 1.9% against 1.8% in Costa Rica as of 2020.
- What is the difference in share of population with no formal education between Costa Rica and South Africa?
- 0.1%, with South Africa ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Costa Rica and South Africa?
- 31 years are reported by both, from 1870 to 2020.
- How do Costa Rica and South Africa rank globally for share of population with no formal education?
- Costa Rica ranks 71st and South Africa ranks 68th of 111 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Share of population with no formal education. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
The share of adults aged between 15 and 64 years old with no formal education.