Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South Africa
South Africa: Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or was 0.9861 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
In 2024, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South Africa stood at 0.9861 GPIA. That is the highest value across all 26 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.3% on the previous year and up 2.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South Africa peaked at 0.9861 GPIA in 2024 and was at its lowest, 0.9218 GPIA, in 2003.
South Africa ranks 58th of 131 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in South Africa, year by year
| Year | GPIA | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 0.9295 GPIA | — |
| 1985 | 0.9234 GPIA | -0.7% |
| 2001 | 0.9254 GPIA | +0.2% |
| 2002 | 0.9431 GPIA | +1.9% |
| 2003 | 0.9218 GPIA | -2.3% |
| 2004 | 0.9515 GPIA | +3.2% |
| 2005 | 0.9263 GPIA | -2.6% |
| 2006 | 0.9274 GPIA | +0.1% |
| 2007 | 0.9456 GPIA | +2.0% |
| 2008 | 0.9231 GPIA | -2.4% |
| 2009 | 0.9396 GPIA | +1.8% |
| 2010 | 0.9421 GPIA | +0.3% |
| 2011 | 0.9612 GPIA | +2.0% |
| 2012 | 0.9529 GPIA | -0.9% |
| 2013 | 0.9423 GPIA | -1.1% |
| 2014 | 0.9613 GPIA | +2.0% |
| 2015 | 0.9534 GPIA | -0.8% |
| 2016 | 0.9568 GPIA | +0.4% |
| 2017 | 0.9662 GPIA | +1.0% |
| 2018 | 0.9574 GPIA | -0.9% |
| 2019 | 0.9611 GPIA | +0.4% |
| 2020 | 0.9734 GPIA | +1.3% |
| 2021 | 0.9784 GPIA | +0.5% |
| 2022 | 0.9661 GPIA | -1.3% |
| 2023 | 0.9731 GPIA | +0.7% |
| 2024 | 0.9861 GPIA | +1.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0.9295 GPIA | 0.9295 GPIA | 0.9295 GPIA | 1 |
| 1980s | 0.9234 GPIA | 0.9234 GPIA | 0.9234 GPIA | 1 |
| 2000s | 0.9337 GPIA | 0.9218 GPIA | 0.9515 GPIA | 9 |
| 2010s | 0.9555 GPIA | 0.9421 GPIA | 0.9662 GPIA | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.9754 GPIA | 0.9661 GPIA | 0.9861 GPIA | 5 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More education data for South Africa
- Enrolment in secondary education, male (number), gaps filled 2.68 million (2023)
- Enrolment in secondary education, male (number), annual growth rate 2.97 % change on previous year (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 818,404 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, both sexes (number), annual 3.28 % change on previous year (2023)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, both sexes (number) 1.19 million (2023)
- 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)
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 0.9861 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 0.9861 GPIA in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.9218 GPIA in 2003.
- How does South Africa rank for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or?
- South Africa ranks 58th out of 131 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 2.6%. 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, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 26 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release