Egypt vs South Africa: Share of the world's population with formal basic education
Egypt
23.5%
in 2020
South Africa
5.4%
in 2020
Egypt rank
3rd
South Africa rank
6th
Share of the world's population with formal basic education over time
- Egypt
- South Africa
How they compare
Egypt currently reports 23.5% against 5.4% in South Africa, a difference of 18.1%.
That makes Egypt's figure about 4.4 times South Africa's.
Across all 15 years both countries report, Egypt has been ahead every year.
Egypt ranks 3rd and South Africa ranks 6th of 25 countries.
Egypt has averaged higher in every one of the 8 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Egypt | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 75.2% | 53.7% | 21.5% | Egypt |
| 1960s | 70.5% | 43.4% | 27.2% | Egypt |
| 1970s | 63.6% | 32.3% | 31.3% | Egypt |
| 1980s | 56.4% | 22.7% | 33.6% | Egypt |
| 1990s | 47.6% | 15.4% | 32.2% | Egypt |
| 2000s | 36.4% | 10.3% | 26.1% | Egypt |
| 2010s | 26.4% | 6.6% | 19.9% | Egypt |
| 2020s | 23.5% | 5.4% | 18.2% | Egypt |
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, Egypt or South Africa?
- Egypt, at 23.5% against 5.4% in South Africa as of 2020.
- What is the difference in share of the world's population with formal basic education between Egypt and South Africa?
- 18.1%, with Egypt ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Egypt and South Africa?
- 15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
- How do Egypt and South Africa rank globally for share of the world's population with formal basic education?
- Egypt ranks 3rd and South Africa ranks 6th 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.
Individual pages
About this data
Share of people aged 15 or older who have not received some kind of formal primary, secondary, or tertiary education.