Educational attainment rate, completed Master's … Master gender in South Africa
South Africa: Educational attainment rate, completed Master's … Master gender was 0.9439 GPIA in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed Master's or equivalent in South Africa, 2008–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in GPIA.
Analysis
In 2024, educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent in South Africa stood at 0.9439 GPIA. That is the highest value across all 15 years on record.
The figure is up 39.9% on the previous year and up 51.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent in South Africa peaked at 0.9439 GPIA in 2024 and was at its lowest, 0.4304 GPIA, in 2008.
That places South Africa 45th out of 77 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 Master's … Master gender in South Africa, year by year
| Year | GPIA | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 0.4304 GPIA | — |
| 2009 | 0.4861 GPIA | +12.9% |
| 2010 | 0.4498 GPIA | -7.5% |
| 2011 | 0.4912 GPIA | +9.2% |
| 2013 | 0.5511 GPIA | +12.2% |
| 2014 | 0.6251 GPIA | +13.4% |
| 2015 | 0.8472 GPIA | +35.5% |
| 2017 | 0.8268 GPIA | -2.4% |
| 2018 | 0.7292 GPIA | -11.8% |
| 2019 | 0.6017 GPIA | -17.5% |
| 2020 | 0.5191 GPIA | -13.7% |
| 2021 | 0.86 GPIA | +65.7% |
| 2022 | 0.6947 GPIA | -19.2% |
| 2023 | 0.6749 GPIA | -2.9% |
| 2024 | 0.9439 GPIA | +39.9% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 0.9439 GPIA is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.9788 GPIA, 96% of the median. (24 countries reporting)
- South Africa's 0.9439 GPIA is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.3626 GPIA, 2.6× the median. (7 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 0.4583 GPIA | 0.4304 GPIA | 0.4861 GPIA | 2 |
| 2010s | 0.6403 GPIA | 0.4498 GPIA | 0.8472 GPIA | 8 |
| 2020s | 0.7385 GPIA | 0.5191 GPIA | 0.9439 GPIA | 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 master's or equivalent in South Africa?
- Educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent in South Africa was 0.9439 GPIA in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 0.9439 GPIA in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.4304 GPIA in 2008.
- How does South Africa rank for educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent?
- South Africa ranks 45th out of 77 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 51.0%. 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 Master's or equivalent education or higher, population 25+ years, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA). 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