Gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education in Gambia
Gambia: Gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education was 89.8% in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education in Gambia, 1820–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026); Lee and Lee (2016) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Gambia recorded 89.8% for gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education in 2025. That is the highest value across all 77 years on record.
That represents a change of up 2.7% on the previous year and up 21.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education in Gambia peaked at 89.8% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 1820.
Gambia ranks 128th of 190 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education in Gambia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1820 | 0.0% | — |
| 1825 | 0.0% | — |
| 1830 | 0.0% | — |
| 1835 | 0.0% | — |
| 1840 | 0.0% | — |
| 1845 | 0.0% | — |
| 1850 | 0.0% | +0.0% |
| 1855 | 0.0% | +0.0% |
| 1860 | 0.0% | +0.0% |
| 1865 | 0.0% | +100.0% |
| 1870 | 0.0% | +0.0% |
| 1875 | 0.0% | +50.0% |
| 1880 | 0.0% | +33.3% |
| 1885 | 0.1% | +25.0% |
| 1890 | 0.1% | +20.0% |
| 1895 | 0.1% | +33.3% |
| 1900 | 0.1% | +37.5% |
| 1905 | 0.1% | +27.3% |
| 1910 | 0.2% | +35.7% |
| 1915 | 0.2% | +31.6% |
| 1920 | 0.3% | +32.0% |
| 1925 | 0.4% | +30.3% |
| 1930 | 0.6% | +30.2% |
| 1935 | 0.7% | +32.1% |
| 1940 | 1.0% | +32.4% |
| 1945 | 1.3% | +30.6% |
| 1950 | 1.7% | +31.2% |
| 1955 | 4.9% | +191.1% |
| 1960 | 7.0% | +43.1% |
| 1965 | 11.0% | +57.1% |
| 1970 | 13.0% | +18.2% |
| 1971 | 11.3% | -13.2% |
| 1972 | 11.5% | +2.2% |
| 1973 | 12.5% | +8.6% |
| 1974 | 13.2% | +5.4% |
| 1975 | 14.2% | +7.2% |
| 1976 | 15.0% | +6.2% |
| 1977 | 16.8% | +11.6% |
| 1978 | 18.2% | +8.6% |
| 1979 | 20.5% | +12.5% |
| 1980 | 23.8% | +15.9% |
| 1981 | 29.6% | +24.5% |
| 1982 | 32.3% | +9.3% |
| 1983 | 35.0% | +8.3% |
| 1984 | 37.5% | +7.3% |
| 1985 | 39.6% | +5.5% |
| 1986 | 40.2% | +1.3% |
| 1992 | 33.4% | -16.8% |
| 1993 | 36.0% | +7.8% |
| 1996 | 43.8% | +21.7% |
| 1998 | 47.0% | +7.2% |
| 1999 | 55.6% | +18.3% |
| 2000 | 54.1% | -2.7% |
| 2001 | 55.2% | +2.0% |
| 2002 | 53.6% | -2.9% |
| 2003 | 58.4% | +9.0% |
| 2004 | 60.2% | +3.0% |
| 2005 | 59.2% | -1.5% |
| 2006 | 63.7% | +7.5% |
| 2007 | 66.0% | +3.6% |
| 2008 | 63.3% | -4.2% |
| 2010 | 64.6% | +2.1% |
| 2011 | 63.6% | -1.4% |
| 2012 | 67.0% | +5.3% |
| 2013 | 67.6% | +0.8% |
| 2014 | 70.4% | +4.1% |
| 2015 | 73.6% | +4.6% |
| 2016 | 75.6% | +2.6% |
| 2017 | 78.2% | +3.6% |
| 2018 | 80.0% | +2.3% |
| 2019 | 84.2% | +5.2% |
| 2020 | 86.7% | +3.0% |
| 2021 | 86.2% | -0.6% |
| 2022 | 86.8% | +0.7% |
| 2023 | 87.0% | +0.2% |
| 2024 | 87.4% | +0.5% |
| 2025 | 89.8% | +2.7% |
Gambia compared with similar countries
- Gambia's 89.8% is above the median for low income countries, which is 68.3%, 1.3× the median. (23 countries reporting)
- Gambia's 89.8% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 86.4%, 1.0× the median. (46 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education in Gambia 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | +191.1% | 1.7% | 4.9% |
| 1865 | +100.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1820s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2 |
| 1830s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2 |
| 1840s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2 |
| 1850s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2 |
| 1860s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2 |
| 1870s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2 |
| 1880s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 2 |
| 1890s | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 2 |
| 1900s | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 2 |
| 1910s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 2 |
| 1920s | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 2 |
| 1930s | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.7% | 2 |
| 1940s | 1.1% | 1.0% | 1.3% | 2 |
| 1950s | 3.3% | 1.7% | 4.9% | 2 |
| 1960s | 9.0% | 7.0% | 11.0% | 2 |
| 1970s | 14.6% | 11.3% | 20.5% | 10 |
| 1980s | 34.0% | 23.8% | 40.2% | 7 |
| 1990s | 43.2% | 33.4% | 55.6% | 5 |
| 2000s | 59.3% | 53.6% | 66.0% | 9 |
| 2010s | 72.5% | 63.6% | 84.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 87.3% | 86.2% | 89.8% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Gambia
More education data for Gambia
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 89.78 (2025)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 83.09 (2025)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 12,452 (2021)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 16,389 (2025)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 71,238 (2025)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 77,061 (2025)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 369,783 (2021)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 442,901 (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 2.4 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education in Gambia?
- Gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education in Gambia was 89.8% in 2025, 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 Gambia?
- The highest recorded value was 89.8% in 2025.
- What is the lowest gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education recorded in Gambia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 1820.
- How does Gambia rank for gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education?
- Gambia ranks 128th out of 190 countries with data for 2025.
- Is gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education rising or falling in Gambia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 21.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Gambia 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 — 77 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Share of girls of primary school age (typically 6–11 years) who are enrolled in primary education.