Share of primary school teachers who are women in Nigeria
Nigeria: Share of primary school teachers who are women was 55.2% in 2021. ▲ Rising
Share of primary school teachers who are women in Nigeria, 1970–2021
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 Nigeria is 55.2%, measured in 2021.
The figure is down 4.3% on the previous year and up 14.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of primary school teachers who are women in Nigeria peaked at 57.7% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 22.4%, in 1971.
That places Nigeria 172nd out of 212 countries with data for 2021, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 30 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 25.4% | 22.4% | 28.0% | 5 |
| 1980s | 37.9% | 32.9% | 44.5% | 5 |
| 1990s | 45.6% | 42.7% | 48.0% | 8 |
| 2000s | 49.1% | 47.4% | 50.9% | 8 |
| 2010s | 51.0% | 48.2% | 53.8% | 2 |
| 2020s | 56.5% | 55.2% | 57.7% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
More education data for Nigeria
- Duration of pre-primary education 1 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 5 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 56.4% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 40.5% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 89.6% (2023)
- Primary education, teachers 913,305 (2021)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 4.38 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 88.2% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of primary school teachers who are women in Nigeria?
- Share of primary school teachers who are women in Nigeria was 55.2% in 2021, 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 Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 57.7% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of primary school teachers who are women recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was 22.4% in 1971.
- How does Nigeria rank for share of primary school teachers who are women?
- Nigeria ranks 172nd out of 212 countries with data for 2021.
- Is share of primary school teachers who are women rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is up 14.6%. 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 (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.