Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South Africa
South Africa: Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or was 0.9756 GPIA in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South Africa, 1970–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in GPIA.
Analysis
The most recent figure for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South Africa is 0.9756 GPIA, measured in 2024.
The figure is up 2.2% on the previous year and up 3.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South Africa peaked at 0.9768 GPIA in 2017 and was at its lowest, 0.7887 GPIA, in 1970.
That places South Africa 42nd out of 94 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 24 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South Africa, year by year
| Year | GPIA | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 0.7887 GPIA | — |
| 2001 | 0.8851 GPIA | +12.2% |
| 2002 | 0.9119 GPIA | +3.0% |
| 2003 | 0.8805 GPIA | -3.4% |
| 2004 | 0.9376 GPIA | +6.5% |
| 2005 | 0.8924 GPIA | -4.8% |
| 2006 | 0.9015 GPIA | +1.0% |
| 2007 | 0.9296 GPIA | +3.1% |
| 2008 | 0.9035 GPIA | -2.8% |
| 2009 | 0.9048 GPIA | +0.1% |
| 2010 | 0.9104 GPIA | +0.6% |
| 2011 | 0.9592 GPIA | +5.4% |
| 2012 | 0.9273 GPIA | -3.3% |
| 2014 | 0.9425 GPIA | +1.6% |
| 2015 | 0.9242 GPIA | -1.9% |
| 2016 | 0.9165 GPIA | -0.8% |
| 2017 | 0.9768 GPIA | +6.6% |
| 2018 | 0.93 GPIA | -4.8% |
| 2019 | 0.9303 GPIA | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 0.9567 GPIA | +2.8% |
| 2021 | 0.9524 GPIA | -0.5% |
| 2022 | 0.9615 GPIA | +1.0% |
| 2023 | 0.9544 GPIA | -0.7% |
| 2024 | 0.9756 GPIA | +2.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0.7887 GPIA | 0.7887 GPIA | 0.7887 GPIA | 1 |
| 2000s | 0.9052 GPIA | 0.8805 GPIA | 0.9376 GPIA | 9 |
| 2010s | 0.9352 GPIA | 0.9104 GPIA | 0.9768 GPIA | 9 |
| 2020s | 0.9601 GPIA | 0.9524 GPIA | 0.9756 GPIA | 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 lower secondary education or in South Africa?
- Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South Africa was 0.9756 GPIA in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 0.9768 GPIA in 2017.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.7887 GPIA in 1970.
- How does South Africa rank for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or?
- South Africa ranks 42nd out of 94 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.5%. 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 lower secondary education or higher, population 25+ years, rural, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release