Gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education in Netherlands
Netherlands: Gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education was 99.6% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education in Netherlands, 1820–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026); Lee and Lee (2016) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Netherlands recorded 99.6% for gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education in 2023.
That represents a change of down 0.1% on the previous year and down 0.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education in Netherlands peaked at 100.0% in 2015 and was at its lowest, 55.8%, in 1820.
Netherlands ranks 10th of 190 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 46 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1820s | 56.9% | 55.8% | 58.0% | 2 |
| 1830s | 61.3% | 60.2% | 62.3% | 2 |
| 1840s | 65.5% | 64.4% | 66.5% | 2 |
| 1850s | 68.6% | 67.9% | 69.4% | 2 |
| 1860s | 71.5% | 70.8% | 72.2% | 2 |
| 1870s | 74.4% | 73.7% | 75.1% | 2 |
| 1880s | 77.3% | 76.5% | 78.0% | 2 |
| 1890s | 81.2% | 80.3% | 82.0% | 2 |
| 1900s | 88.4% | 86.0% | 90.8% | 2 |
| 1910s | 87.1% | 87.0% | 87.2% | 2 |
| 1920s | 87.6% | 87.5% | 87.7% | 2 |
| 1930s | 88.1% | 88.0% | 88.2% | 2 |
| 1940s | 88.6% | 88.4% | 88.7% | 2 |
| 1950s | 87.8% | 86.7% | 88.9% | 2 |
| 1960s | 95.4% | 94.9% | 95.8% | 2 |
| 1970s | 93.0% | 92.0% | 94.0% | 2 |
| 1980s | 94.0% | 94.0% | 94.0% | 1 |
| 2000s | 98.9% | 98.9% | 98.9% | 2 |
| 2010s | 99.8% | 99.1% | 100.0% | 7 |
| 2020s | 99.8% | 99.6% | 99.9% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Netherlands
- 7 United Kingdom 99.7% compare
- 8 Saudi Arabia 99.7% compare
- 9 Cyprus 99.7% compare
- 12 Kenya 99.6% compare
- 13 Tunisia 99.5% compare
More education data for Netherlands
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 64.2% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 14.9% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 104.2% (2023)
- Primary education, teachers 98,851 (2024)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.43 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 103.9% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education in Netherlands?
- Gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education in Netherlands was 99.6% in 2023, 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 Netherlands?
- The highest recorded value was 100.0% in 2015.
- What is the lowest gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education recorded in Netherlands?
- The lowest recorded value was 55.8% in 1820.
- How does Netherlands rank for gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education?
- Netherlands ranks 10th out of 190 countries with data for 2023.
- Is gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education rising or falling in Netherlands?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.3%. 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); 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 — 46 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.