Share of primary school teachers who are women in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Share of primary school teachers who are women was 87.9% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Share of primary school teachers who are women in Sri Lanka, 1978–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Sri Lanka recorded 87.9% for share of primary school teachers who are women in 2023.
The figure is down 1.2% on the previous year and up 1.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of primary school teachers who are women in Sri Lanka peaked at 95.6% in 1996 and was at its lowest, 60.0%, in 1978.
Sri Lanka ranks 48th of 212 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
Share of primary school teachers who are women in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | 60.0% | — |
| 1992 | 80.4% | +34.0% |
| 1993 | 80.3% | -0.2% |
| 1994 | 82.3% | +2.5% |
| 1995 | 83.4% | +1.4% |
| 1996 | 95.6% | +14.6% |
| 2002 | 78.9% | -17.5% |
| 2003 | 78.9% | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 78.9% | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 78.5% | -0.5% |
| 2006 | 84.1% | +7.1% |
| 2007 | 84.6% | +0.6% |
| 2008 | 85.0% | +0.4% |
| 2009 | 84.9% | -0.1% |
| 2010 | 85.0% | +0.1% |
| 2011 | 85.0% | -0.0% |
| 2012 | 86.3% | +1.6% |
| 2015 | 86.4% | +0.1% |
| 2016 | 86.7% | +0.3% |
| 2017 | 87.4% | +0.8% |
| 2018 | 87.7% | +0.4% |
| 2019 | 87.9% | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 88.3% | +0.4% |
| 2021 | 89.2% | +1.1% |
| 2022 | 88.9% | -0.4% |
| 2023 | 87.9% | -1.2% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 87.9% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 79.4%, 1.1× the median. (57 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 87.9% is above the median for South Asia, which is 62.2%, 1.4× the median. (6 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of primary school teachers who are women in Sri Lanka 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | +34.0% | 60.0% | 80.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 60.0% | 60.0% | 60.0% | 1 |
| 1990s | 84.4% | 80.3% | 95.6% | 5 |
| 2000s | 81.7% | 78.5% | 85.0% | 8 |
| 2010s | 86.6% | 85.0% | 87.9% | 8 |
| 2020s | 88.6% | 87.9% | 89.2% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
- 45 Serbia 88.3% compare
- 46 Philippines 88.3% compare
- 47 Turks and Caicos Islands 87.9% compare
- 49 Seychelles 87.6% compare
- 50 Cook Islands 87.5% compare
- 51 United States 87.5% compare
More education data for Sri Lanka
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 155,543 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 0 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 224,799 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 214,300 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.54 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 1.58 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -2.89 % change on previous year (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0715 units per person (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of primary school teachers who are women in Sri Lanka?
- Share of primary school teachers who are women in Sri Lanka was 87.9% in 2023, 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 Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 95.6% in 1996.
- What is the lowest share of primary school teachers who are women recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 60.0% in 1978.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for share of primary school teachers who are women?
- Sri Lanka ranks 48th out of 212 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of primary school teachers who are women rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sri Lanka 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.