Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's … Bachelor s female in South Africa
South Africa: Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's … Bachelor s female was 15.4% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent in South Africa, 2008–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in South Africa stood at 15.4%. That is the highest value across all 16 years on record.
The figure is up 117.4% on the previous year and up 175.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in South Africa peaked at 15.4% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 4.0%, in 2008.
South Africa ranks 66th of 109 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 … Bachelor s female in South Africa, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 4.0% | — |
| 2009 | 4.1% | +1.2% |
| 2010 | 4.1% | +1.5% |
| 2011 | 4.6% | +11.0% |
| 2013 | 5.6% | +20.6% |
| 2014 | 5.6% | +0.8% |
| 2015 | 5.7% | +2.1% |
| 2016 | 6.1% | +7.4% |
| 2017 | 8.2% | +33.8% |
| 2018 | 6.7% | -19.0% |
| 2019 | 7.2% | +7.5% |
| 2020 | 6.8% | -4.3% |
| 2021 | 13.0% | +90.1% |
| 2022 | 6.1% | -53.1% |
| 2023 | 7.1% | +16.2% |
| 2024 | 15.4% | +117.4% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 15.4% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 17.0%, 91% of the median. (31 countries reporting)
- South Africa's 15.4% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 2.7%, 5.8× the median. (21 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's … Bachelor s female in South Africa changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | +117.4% | 7.1% | 15.4% |
| 2021 | +90.1% | 6.8% | 13.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 4.1% | 4.0% | 4.1% | 2 |
| 2010s | 6.0% | 4.1% | 8.2% | 9 |
| 2020s | 9.7% | 6.1% | 15.4% | 5 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More education data for South Africa
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 94.05 (2023)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 93.94 (2023)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 181,739 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 339,638 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 410,708 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 407,696 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 5.50 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 7.52 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -1.44 % change on previous year (2023)
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 15.4% 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 15.4% in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.0% in 2008.
- How does South Africa rank for educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent?
- South Africa ranks 66th out of 109 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 175.5%. 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 (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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