Educational attainment rate … attainment short-cycle tertiary rural in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Educational attainment rate … attainment short-cycle tertiary rural was 3.8% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Sri Lanka, 1971–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Sri Lanka recorded 3.8% for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in 2024.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 3.5% on the previous year and up 48.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Sri Lanka peaked at 3.9% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 0.9%, in 1981.
That places Sri Lanka 78th out of 95 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 16 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate … attainment short-cycle tertiary rural in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 2.1% | — |
| 1981 | 0.9% | -55.7% |
| 2010 | 2.4% | +162.4% |
| 2011 | 2.4% | -0.1% |
| 2013 | 2.5% | +4.1% |
| 2014 | 2.6% | +1.3% |
| 2015 | 2.8% | +11.0% |
| 2016 | 3.2% | +13.5% |
| 2017 | 3.1% | -4.5% |
| 2018 | 2.9% | -5.1% |
| 2019 | 3.1% | +5.3% |
| 2020 | 3.4% | +8.6% |
| 2021 | 3.4% | +2.0% |
| 2022 | 3.5% | +3.8% |
| 2023 | 3.9% | +10.8% |
| 2024 | 3.8% | -3.5% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 3.8% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 8.3%, 46% of the median. (30 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Educational attainment rate … attainment short-cycle tertiary rural 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | +162.4% | 0.9% | 2.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2.1% | 2.1% | 2.1% | 1 |
| 1980s | 0.9% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 1 |
| 2010s | 2.8% | 2.4% | 3.2% | 9 |
| 2020s | 3.6% | 3.4% | 3.9% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
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 short-cycle tertiary education in Sri Lanka?
- Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Sri Lanka was 3.8% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 3.9% in 2023.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.9% in 1981.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education?
- Sri Lanka ranks 78th out of 95 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is up 48.0%. 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 short-cycle tertiary education or higher, population 25+ years, rural, male (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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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