Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in South Africa
South Africa: Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or was 0.5904 LPIA in 2024. ▲ Rising
Latest (2024)
0.5904 LPIA
Change on year
down 0.8%
World rank
62nd
of 105 countries
All-time high
0.6052 LPIA
in 2020
All-time low
0.2013 LPIA
in 1970
Years of data
18
1970–2024
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in South Africa, 1970–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in LPIA.
Analysis
South Africa recorded 0.5904 LPIA for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in 2024.
The figure is down 0.8% on the previous year and up 31.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in South Africa peaked at 0.6052 LPIA in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.2013 LPIA, in 1970.
That places South Africa 62nd out of 105 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 18 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in South Africa, year by year
| Year | LPIA | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 0.2013 LPIA | — |
| 2001 | 0.3859 LPIA | +91.7% |
| 2008 | 0.4045 LPIA | +4.8% |
| 2009 | 0.411 LPIA | +1.6% |
| 2010 | 0.4309 LPIA | +4.8% |
| 2011 | 0.4297 LPIA | -0.3% |
| 2013 | 0.4357 LPIA | +1.4% |
| 2014 | 0.4496 LPIA | +3.2% |
| 2015 | 0.5153 LPIA | +14.6% |
| 2016 | 0.5261 LPIA | +2.1% |
| 2017 | 0.539 LPIA | +2.5% |
| 2018 | 0.536 LPIA | -0.6% |
| 2019 | 0.5488 LPIA | +2.4% |
| 2020 | 0.6052 LPIA | +10.3% |
| 2021 | 0.5927 LPIA | -2.1% |
| 2022 | 0.5803 LPIA | -2.1% |
| 2023 | 0.595 LPIA | +2.5% |
| 2024 | 0.5904 LPIA | -0.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0.2013 LPIA | 0.2013 LPIA | 0.2013 LPIA | 1 |
| 2000s | 0.4005 LPIA | 0.3859 LPIA | 0.411 LPIA | 3 |
| 2010s | 0.4901 LPIA | 0.4297 LPIA | 0.5488 LPIA | 9 |
| 2020s | 0.5927 LPIA | 0.5803 LPIA | 0.6052 LPIA | 5 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
- 59 Portugal 0.6305 LPIA compare
- 60 Nigeria 0.6122 LPIA compare
- 61 Philippines 0.6092 LPIA compare
- 63 Costa Rica 0.5819 LPIA compare
- 64 Dominican Republic 0.5739 LPIA compare
- 65 India 0.5619 LPIA compare
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 upper secondary education or in South Africa?
- Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in South Africa was 0.5904 LPIA in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 0.6052 LPIA in 2020.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2013 LPIA in 1970.
- How does South Africa rank for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or?
- South Africa ranks 62nd out of 105 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 31.3%. 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 upper secondary education or higher, population 25+ years, adjusted location parity index (LPIA). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 18 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release