Enrolment in primary education, male in Nigeria
Nigeria: Enrolment in primary education, male was 17.21 million in 2023. ▲ Rising
Latest (2023)
17.21 million
Change on year
up 10.9%
World rank
3rd
of 216 countries
All-time high
17.21 million
in 2023
All-time low
2.22 million
in 1970
Years of data
47
1970–2023
Enrolment in primary education, male in Nigeria, 1970–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Analysis
Nigeria recorded 17.21 million for enrolment in primary education, male in 2023. That is the highest value across all 47 years on record.
That represents a change of up 10.9% on the previous year and up 27.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, enrolment in primary education, male in Nigeria peaked at 17.21 million in 2023 and was at its lowest, 2.22 million, in 1970.
Nigeria ranks 3rd of 216 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 47 years of available data.
Enrolment in primary education, male in Nigeria, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 2.22 million | — |
| 1971 | 2.40 million | +8.2% |
| 1972 | 2.67 million | +11.5% |
| 1973 | 2.80 million | +4.6% |
| 1976 | 2.93 million | +4.5% |
| 1977 | 3.54 million | +21.0% |
| 1978 | 4.59 million | +29.6% |
| 1979 | 5.61 million | +22.3% |
| 1980 | 6.10 million | +8.8% |
| 1981 | 6.82 million | +11.8% |
| 1982 | 7.79 million | +14.2% |
| 1983 | 8.16 million | +4.8% |
| 1984 | 8.35 million | +2.3% |
| 1985 | 8.05 million | -3.5% |
| 1986 | 7.26 million | -9.9% |
| 1987 | 7.18 million | -1.0% |
| 1988 | 7.31 million | +1.7% |
| 1989 | 7.00 million | -4.3% |
| 1990 | 7.73 million | +10.5% |
| 1991 | 7.74 million | +0.2% |
| 1992 | 8.27 million | +6.9% |
| 1993 | 8.93 million | +7.9% |
| 1994 | 9.06 million | +1.4% |
| 1995 | 8.73 million | -3.6% |
| 1996 | 7.70 million | -11.8% |
| 1999 | 10.06 million | +30.6% |
| 2000 | 10.74 million | +6.8% |
| 2001 | 10.58 million | -1.4% |
| 2002 | 11.02 million | +4.1% |
| 2003 | 11.42 million | +3.7% |
| 2004 | 11.82 million | +3.5% |
| 2005 | 12.19 million | +3.1% |
| 2006 | 12.49 million | +2.5% |
| 2007 | 11.62 million | -7.0% |
| 2008 | 10.78 million | -7.3% |
| 2009 | 11.24 million | +4.3% |
| 2010 | 11.03 million | -1.9% |
| 2011 | 12.47 million | +13.1% |
| 2012 | 12.82 million | +2.8% |
| 2013 | 13.51 million | +5.4% |
| 2014 | 13.26 million | -1.9% |
| 2015 | 4.05 million | -69.4% |
| 2016 | 13.44 million | +231.5% |
| 2018 | 14.39 million | +7.1% |
| 2020 | 15.36 million | +6.7% |
| 2021 | 15.52 million | +1.0% |
| 2023 | 17.21 million | +10.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 3.34 million | 2.22 million | 5.61 million | 8 |
| 1980s | 7.40 million | 6.10 million | 8.35 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 8.53 million | 7.70 million | 10.06 million | 8 |
| 2000s | 11.39 million | 10.58 million | 12.49 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 11.87 million | 4.05 million | 14.39 million | 8 |
| 2020s | 16.03 million | 15.36 million | 17.21 million | 3 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
More education data for Nigeria
- Theoretical duration of upper secondary education (years), annual 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of secondary education (years), annual growth 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), gaps filled 2,021 tertiary education (2022)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), annual growth 0.0497 % change on previous year (2014)
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 913,305 (2021)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre primary education 1 (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 5 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 56.4% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 40.5% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is enrolment in primary education, male in Nigeria?
- Enrolment in primary education, male in Nigeria was 17.21 million in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest enrolment in primary education, male recorded in Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 17.21 million in 2023.
- What is the lowest enrolment in primary education, male recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.22 million in 1970.
- How does Nigeria rank for enrolment in primary education, male?
- Nigeria ranks 3rd out of 216 countries with data for 2023.
- Is enrolment in primary education, male rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is up 27.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Nigeria data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Enrolment in primary education, male (number). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 47 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release