Share of primary school teachers who are women in Netherlands
Netherlands: Share of primary school teachers who are women was 87.0% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of primary school teachers who are women in Netherlands, 1971–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of primary school teachers who are women in Netherlands is 87.0%, measured in 2024.
That represents a change of down 0.2% on the previous year and up 1.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of primary school teachers who are women in Netherlands peaked at 87.4% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 44.9%, in 1978.
Netherlands ranks 57th of 212 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 37 years of available data.
Share of primary school teachers who are women in Netherlands, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 49.5% | — |
| 1972 | 48.4% | -2.2% |
| 1973 | 46.4% | -4.1% |
| 1974 | 46.2% | -0.4% |
| 1975 | 46.3% | +0.2% |
| 1976 | 46.0% | -0.7% |
| 1977 | 45.4% | -1.2% |
| 1978 | 44.9% | -1.1% |
| 1979 | 45.3% | +0.9% |
| 1980 | 45.7% | +0.8% |
| 1981 | 45.9% | +0.5% |
| 1982 | 45.3% | -1.4% |
| 1983 | 48.9% | +7.9% |
| 1984 | 47.8% | -2.2% |
| 1985 | 47.5% | -0.5% |
| 1986 | 52.6% | +10.5% |
| 1987 | 51.8% | -1.4% |
| 1988 | 52.0% | +0.3% |
| 1989 | 53.2% | +2.4% |
| 1990 | 52.1% | -2.1% |
| 1991 | 53.0% | +1.6% |
| 1992 | 53.4% | +0.8% |
| 1993 | 54.7% | +2.4% |
| 1994 | 64.5% | +18.0% |
| 2011 | 84.8% | +31.4% |
| 2012 | 85.2% | +0.5% |
| 2014 | 85.9% | +0.8% |
| 2015 | 86.2% | +0.4% |
| 2016 | 86.7% | +0.5% |
| 2017 | 87.0% | +0.4% |
| 2018 | 87.4% | +0.4% |
| 2019 | 87.4% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 87.4% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 87.3% | -0.1% |
| 2022 | 87.3% | -0.1% |
| 2023 | 87.2% | -0.1% |
| 2024 | 87.0% | -0.2% |
Netherlands compared with similar countries
- Netherlands's 87.0% is above the median for high income countries, which is 84.3%, 1.0× the median. (75 countries reporting)
- Netherlands's 87.0% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 87.2%, 100% of the median. (52 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of primary school teachers who are women in Netherlands 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | +31.4% | 64.5% | 84.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 46.5% | 44.9% | 49.5% | 9 |
| 1980s | 49.1% | 45.3% | 53.2% | 10 |
| 1990s | 55.6% | 52.1% | 64.5% | 5 |
| 2010s | 86.3% | 84.8% | 87.4% | 8 |
| 2020s | 87.2% | 87.0% | 87.4% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Netherlands
- 54 Guyana 87.3% compare
- 55 Poland 87.1% compare
- 56 Puerto Rico 87.1% compare
- 58 Bosnia and Herzegovina 86.6% compare
- 59 United Kingdom 86.4% compare
- 60 Saint Lucia 86.2% compare
More education data for Netherlands
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 118,472 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 23,856 (1985)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 247,743 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 240,049 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 1.61 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 1.14 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 0.0937 % change on previous year (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.064 units per person (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of primary school teachers who are women in Netherlands?
- Share of primary school teachers who are women in Netherlands was 87.0% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of primary school teachers who are women recorded in Netherlands?
- The highest recorded value was 87.4% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of primary school teachers who are women recorded in Netherlands?
- The lowest recorded value was 44.9% in 1978.
- How does Netherlands rank for share of primary school teachers who are women?
- Netherlands ranks 57th out of 212 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of primary school teachers who are women rising or falling in Netherlands?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Netherlands data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of primary school teachers who are women. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Percentage of female teachers among all teachers at the primary education level during a given school year.