Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in South Africa
South Africa: Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or was 54.8% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in South Africa, 1970–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
South Africa recorded 54.8% for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in 2024.
That represents a change of up 1.7% on the previous year and up 12.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or in South Africa peaked at 57.1% in 2021 and was at its lowest, 16.2%, in 1970.
That places South Africa 70th out of 108 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 | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 16.2% | — |
| 2001 | 34.8% | +115.4% |
| 2008 | 43.3% | +24.4% |
| 2009 | 44.7% | +3.2% |
| 2010 | 45.4% | +1.5% |
| 2011 | 46.1% | +1.6% |
| 2013 | 47.9% | +3.7% |
| 2014 | 48.8% | +2.0% |
| 2015 | 48.2% | -1.3% |
| 2016 | 48.4% | +0.4% |
| 2017 | 49.4% | +2.1% |
| 2018 | 49.8% | +1.0% |
| 2019 | 50.6% | +1.5% |
| 2020 | 55.9% | +10.4% |
| 2021 | 57.1% | +2.3% |
| 2022 | 52.2% | -8.6% |
| 2023 | 53.9% | +3.2% |
| 2024 | 54.8% | +1.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 16.2% | 16.2% | 16.2% | 1 |
| 2000s | 41.0% | 34.8% | 44.7% | 3 |
| 2010s | 48.3% | 45.4% | 50.6% | 9 |
| 2020s | 54.8% | 52.2% | 57.1% | 5 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More education data for South Africa
- 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)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, male (number), gaps 444,590 (2023)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, male (number) -4.38 % change on previous year (2023)
- Theoretical duration of primary education (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of pre-primary education (years), annual growth 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Start of the academic school year (pre-primary to post-secondary non) 0.0494 % change on previous year (2025)
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 54.8% 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 57.1% in 2021.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 16.2% in 1970.
- How does South Africa rank for educational attainment rate, completed upper secondary education or?
- South Africa ranks 70th out of 108 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 12.4%. 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, urban, both sexes (%). 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