Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in South Africa
South Africa: Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or was 0.603 LPIA in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in South Africa, 1970–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in LPIA.
Analysis
The most recent figure for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in South Africa is 0.603 LPIA, measured in 2024.
That represents a change of up 3.2% on the previous year and up 31.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in South Africa peaked at 0.6319 LPIA in 2021 and was at its lowest, 0.2445 LPIA, in 1970.
South Africa ranks 61st of 105 countries on this measure, 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 | 0.2445 LPIA | — |
| 2001 | 0.3995 LPIA | +63.4% |
| 2008 | 0.4155 LPIA | +4.0% |
| 2009 | 0.4314 LPIA | +3.8% |
| 2010 | 0.4504 LPIA | +4.4% |
| 2011 | 0.4436 LPIA | -1.5% |
| 2013 | 0.4417 LPIA | -0.4% |
| 2014 | 0.4598 LPIA | +4.1% |
| 2015 | 0.5333 LPIA | +16.0% |
| 2016 | 0.5507 LPIA | +3.3% |
| 2017 | 0.5608 LPIA | +1.8% |
| 2018 | 0.5551 LPIA | -1.0% |
| 2019 | 0.566 LPIA | +2.0% |
| 2020 | 0.6161 LPIA | +8.8% |
| 2021 | 0.6319 LPIA | +2.6% |
| 2022 | 0.5876 LPIA | -7.0% |
| 2023 | 0.5842 LPIA | -0.6% |
| 2024 | 0.603 LPIA | +3.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0.2445 LPIA | 0.2445 LPIA | 0.2445 LPIA | 1 |
| 2000s | 0.4155 LPIA | 0.3995 LPIA | 0.4314 LPIA | 3 |
| 2010s | 0.5068 LPIA | 0.4417 LPIA | 0.566 LPIA | 9 |
| 2020s | 0.6045 LPIA | 0.5842 LPIA | 0.6319 LPIA | 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 upper secondary education or in South Africa?
- Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in South Africa was 0.603 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 0.6319 LPIA in 2021.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2445 LPIA in 1970.
- How does South Africa rank for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or?
- South Africa ranks 61st 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 31.2%. 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, male, 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