Educational attainment rate, completed lower … lower urban male in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Educational attainment rate, completed lower … lower urban male was 90.5% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Sri Lanka, 1981–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Sri Lanka is 90.5%, measured in 2024.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.8% on the previous year and up 1.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Sri Lanka peaked at 91.7% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 52.3%, in 1981.
That places Sri Lanka 39th out of 97 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 15 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed lower … lower urban male in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 52.3% | — |
| 2001 | 85.9% | +64.4% |
| 2006 | 85.4% | -0.5% |
| 2007 | 77.9% | -8.9% |
| 2008 | 86.3% | +10.8% |
| 2009 | 86.4% | +0.1% |
| 2016 | 89.2% | +3.2% |
| 2017 | 89.8% | +0.7% |
| 2018 | 90.4% | +0.6% |
| 2019 | 91.0% | +0.7% |
| 2020 | 91.7% | +0.8% |
| 2021 | 90.4% | -1.4% |
| 2022 | 90.4% | -0.0% |
| 2023 | 91.2% | +0.9% |
| 2024 | 90.5% | -0.8% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 90.5% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 77.3%, 1.2× the median. (27 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 90.5% is above the median for South Asia, which is 61.7%, 1.5× the median. (5 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Educational attainment rate, completed lower … lower urban male in Sri Lanka 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | +64.4% | 52.3% | 85.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 52.3% | 52.3% | 52.3% | 1 |
| 2000s | 84.4% | 77.9% | 86.4% | 5 |
| 2010s | 90.1% | 89.2% | 91.0% | 4 |
| 2020s | 90.8% | 90.4% | 91.7% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
- 36 Chile 91.4% compare
- 37 Netherlands 90.8% compare
- 38 Luxembourg 90.6% compare
- 40 Israel 90.4% compare
- 41 South Africa 90.4% compare
- 42 Brunei 89.6% compare
More education data for Sri Lanka
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 91.41 (2023)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 90.86 (2023)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 155,543 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 0 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 224,799 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 214,300 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.54 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 1.58 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -2.89 % change on previous year (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Sri Lanka?
- Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Sri Lanka was 90.5% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 91.7% in 2020.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 52.3% in 1981.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or?
- Sri Lanka ranks 39th out of 97 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sri Lanka 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, urban, male (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 15 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release