Kenya vs South Africa: Share of the world's population with formal basic education
Kenya
13.4%
in 2020
South Africa
5.4%
in 2020
Kenya rank
4th
South Africa rank
6th
Share of the world's population with formal basic education over time
- Kenya
- South Africa
How they compare
Kenya currently reports 13.4% against 5.4% in South Africa, a difference of 8.0%.
That makes Kenya's figure about 2.5 times South Africa's.
Across all 15 years both countries report, Kenya has been ahead every year.
Kenya ranks 4th and South Africa ranks 6th of 25 countries.
Kenya has averaged higher in every one of the 8 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Kenya | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 76.2% | 53.7% | 22.5% | Kenya |
| 1960s | 66.3% | 43.4% | 23.0% | Kenya |
| 1970s | 52.6% | 32.3% | 20.3% | Kenya |
| 1980s | 39.0% | 22.7% | 16.3% | Kenya |
| 1990s | 27.8% | 15.4% | 12.5% | Kenya |
| 2000s | 20.1% | 10.3% | 9.7% | Kenya |
| 2010s | 14.6% | 6.6% | 8.0% | Kenya |
| 2020s | 13.4% | 5.4% | 8.0% | Kenya |
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, Kenya or South Africa?
- Kenya, at 13.4% 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 Kenya and South Africa?
- 8.0%, with Kenya ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Kenya and South Africa?
- 15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
- How do Kenya and South Africa rank globally for share of the world's population with formal basic education?
- Kenya ranks 4th 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.