Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent in South Africa
South Africa: Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent was 0.3809 LPIA in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent in South Africa, 2008–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in LPIA.
Analysis
South Africa recorded 0.3809 LPIA for educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in 2024.
That represents a change of up 26.6% on the previous year and up 76.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in South Africa peaked at 0.4037 LPIA in 2021 and was at its lowest, 0.1769 LPIA, in 2009.
South Africa ranks 48th of 80 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 16 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent in South Africa, year by year
| Year | LPIA | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 0.21 LPIA | — |
| 2009 | 0.1769 LPIA | -15.8% |
| 2010 | 0.1896 LPIA | +7.2% |
| 2011 | 0.1812 LPIA | -4.4% |
| 2013 | 0.1929 LPIA | +6.5% |
| 2014 | 0.2158 LPIA | +11.9% |
| 2015 | 0.2433 LPIA | +12.7% |
| 2016 | 0.274 LPIA | +12.6% |
| 2017 | 0.2159 LPIA | -21.2% |
| 2018 | 0.2344 LPIA | +8.6% |
| 2019 | 0.2596 LPIA | +10.7% |
| 2020 | 0.3126 LPIA | +20.4% |
| 2021 | 0.4037 LPIA | +29.1% |
| 2022 | 0.2057 LPIA | -49.0% |
| 2023 | 0.3008 LPIA | +46.3% |
| 2024 | 0.3809 LPIA | +26.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 0.1934 LPIA | 0.1769 LPIA | 0.21 LPIA | 2 |
| 2010s | 0.223 LPIA | 0.1812 LPIA | 0.274 LPIA | 9 |
| 2020s | 0.3207 LPIA | 0.2057 LPIA | 0.4037 LPIA | 5 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More education data for South Africa
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, both sexes (number) -2.55 % change on previous year (2023)
- Teachers in primary education, female (number), gaps filled 225,583 (2023)
- Teachers in primary education, male (number), gaps filled 61,727 (2023)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female (number) 748,573 (2023)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female (number) -1.43 % change on previous year (2023)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, male (number), gaps 444,590 (2023)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, male (number) -4.38 % change on previous year (2023)
- Theoretical duration of primary education (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of pre-primary education (years), annual growth 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Start of the academic school year (pre-primary to post-secondary non) 0.0494 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in South Africa?
- Educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in South Africa was 0.3809 LPIA in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 0.4037 LPIA in 2021.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.1769 LPIA in 2009.
- How does South Africa rank for educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent?
- South Africa ranks 48th out of 80 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 76.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent education or higher, population 25+ years, female, adjusted location parity index (LPIA). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 16 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release