Afghanistan vs China: Share of the population with tertiary education
Afghanistan
8.0%
in 2020
China
8.7%
in 2020
Afghanistan rank
72nd
China rank
69th
Share of the population with tertiary education over time
- Afghanistan
- China
How they compare
China currently reports 8.7% against 8.0% in Afghanistan, a difference of 0.7%.
That makes China's figure about 1.1 times Afghanistan's.
The two have swapped places 6 times across 31 shared years of data; in 1870 it was China ahead.
Afghanistan ranks 72nd and China ranks 69th of 111 countries.
Across the 16 decades both report, Afghanistan averaged higher in 10 and China in 1.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Afghanistan | China | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| 1880s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| 1890s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| 1900s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| 1910s | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.1% | Afghanistan |
| 1920s | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.1% | Afghanistan |
| 1930s | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | Afghanistan |
| 1940s | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.1% | Afghanistan |
| 1950s | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.1% | Afghanistan |
| 1960s | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.0% | — |
| 1970s | 1.9% | 1.1% | 0.8% | Afghanistan |
| 1980s | 4.2% | 1.3% | 2.9% | Afghanistan |
| 1990s | 6.5% | 2.7% | 3.8% | Afghanistan |
| 2000s | 8.2% | 4.4% | 3.8% | Afghanistan |
| 2010s | 8.8% | 4.7% | 4.2% | Afghanistan |
| 2020s | 8.0% | 8.7% | 0.7% | China |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher share of the population with tertiary education, Afghanistan or China?
- China, at 8.7% against 8.0% in Afghanistan as of 2020.
- What is the difference in share of the population with tertiary education between Afghanistan and China?
- 0.7%, with China ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Afghanistan and China?
- 31 years are reported by both, from 1870 to 2020.
- How do Afghanistan and China rank globally for share of the population with tertiary education?
- Afghanistan ranks 72nd and China ranks 69th 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 the population with tertiary education. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Percentage of the population aged 25 to 65 years who have either completed or partially completed tertiary education.