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

Italy
0.6%
in 2020
United States
0.9%
in 2020
Italy rank
16th
United States rank
15th

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

  • Italy
  • United States
02.557.51012.5195019852020

How they compare

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

That makes United States's figure about 1.4 times Italy's.

The two have swapped places 1 time across 15 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Italy ahead.

Italy ranks 16th and United States ranks 15th of 25 countries.

Across the 8 decades both report, Italy averaged higher in 6 and United States in 2.

Head to head by decade

Decade Italy United States Difference Ahead
1950s 10.6% 3.9% 6.8% Italy
1960s 7.6% 2.8% 4.8% Italy
1970s 5.3% 2.1% 3.1% Italy
1980s 3.4% 1.8% 1.7% Italy
1990s 2.3% 1.5% 0.7% Italy
2000s 1.5% 1.3% 0.1% Italy
2010s 0.9% 1.1% 0.2% United States
2020s 0.6% 0.9% 0.3% United States

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, Italy or United States?
United States, at 0.9% against 0.6% in Italy as of 2020.
What is the difference in share of the world's population with formal basic education between Italy and United States?
0.3%, with United States ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Italy and United States?
15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
How do Italy and United States rank globally for share of the world's population with formal basic education?
Italy ranks 16th and United States 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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Italy vs United States: 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 02 September 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/compare/share-of-the-world-population-with-at-least-basic-education/italy/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.