Australia vs United States of America: Share of the world's population with formal basic education

Australia
0.6%
in 2020
United States of America
0.9%
in 2020
Australia rank
17th
United States of America rank
15th

Share of the world's population with formal basic education over time

  • Australia
  • United States of America
1234195019852020

How they compare

United States of America currently reports 0.9% against 0.6% in Australia, a difference of 0.3%.

That makes United States of America's figure about 1.4 times Australia's.

Across all 15 years both countries report, United States of America has been ahead every year.

Australia ranks 17th and United States of America ranks 15th of 25 countries.

United States of America has averaged higher in every one of the 8 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade Australia United States of America Difference Ahead
1950s 1.8% 3.9% 2.1% United States of America
1960s 1.9% 2.8% 0.9% United States of America
1970s 1.8% 2.1% 0.3% United States of America
1980s 1.6% 1.8% 0.2% United States of America
1990s 1.3% 1.5% 0.2% United States of America
2000s 1.1% 1.3% 0.3% United States of America
2010s 0.7% 1.1% 0.3% United States of America
2020s 0.6% 0.9% 0.3% United States of America

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher share of the world's population with formal basic education, Australia or United States of America?
United States of America, at 0.9% against 0.6% in Australia as of 2020.
What is the difference in share of the world's population with formal basic education between Australia and United States of America?
0.3%, with United States of America ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Australia and United States of America?
15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
How do Australia and United States of America rank globally for share of the world's population with formal basic education?
Australia ranks 17th and United States of America ranks 15th of 25 countries.
Where does this data come from?
World Bank (2024); van Zanden, J. et al.; Wittgenstein Centre (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Share of the world's population with formal basic education. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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Australia vs United States of America: Share of the world's population with formal basic education. Statizoid, drawing on World Bank (2024); van Zanden, J. et al.; Wittgenstein Centre (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 31 August 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/compare/share-of-the-world-population-with-at-least-basic-education/australia/united-states/

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About this data

Indicator
Share of the world's population with formal basic education
Unit
%
Source
World Bank (2024); van Zanden, J. et al.; Wittgenstein Centre (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
25 places, 375 data points, 1950–2020
Last refreshed

Share of people aged 15 or older who have not received some kind of formal primary, secondary, or tertiary education.