Gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education in Ethiopia
Ethiopia: Gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education was 74.9% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education in Ethiopia, 1987–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026); Lee and Lee (2016) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Ethiopia recorded 74.9% for gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education in 2024.
The figure is up 1.8% on the previous year and down 4.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education in Ethiopia peaked at 78.6% in 2014 and was at its lowest, 16.5%, in 1994.
Ethiopia ranks 167th of 190 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 27 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 24.5% | 24.3% | 24.7% | 3 |
| 1990s | 22.4% | 16.5% | 29.1% | 5 |
| 2000s | 51.9% | 33.0% | 72.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 74.8% | 70.2% | 78.6% | 5 |
| 2020s | 73.1% | 71.2% | 74.9% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Ethiopia
More education data for Ethiopia
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 4 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 57.9% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 38.8% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 13 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 7 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 84.4% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 338,716 (2024)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 3.91 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 81.4% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education in Ethiopia?
- Gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education in Ethiopia was 74.9% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026); Lee and Lee (2016) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education recorded in Ethiopia?
- The highest recorded value was 78.6% in 2014.
- What is the lowest gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education recorded in Ethiopia?
- The lowest recorded value was 16.5% in 1994.
- How does Ethiopia rank for gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education?
- Ethiopia ranks 167th out of 190 countries with data for 2024.
- Is gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education rising or falling in Ethiopia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Ethiopia data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026); Lee and Lee (2016) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 27 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The share of girls of primary school age (typically 6–11 years) who are enrolled in primary education.