Inequality in education in Australia
Australia: Inequality in education was 0.0431 in 2023. ▼ Falling
Inequality in education in Australia, 2010–2023
Source: UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Australia recorded 0.0431 for inequality in education in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 14 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 27.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, inequality in education in Australia peaked at 0.0593 in 2010 and was at its lowest, 0.0431, in 2018.
Australia ranks 145th of 184 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 14 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 0.0516 | 0.0431 | 0.0593 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.0431 | 0.0431 | 0.0431 | 4 |
Countries ranked near Australia
- 142 Netherlands 0.0465 compare
- 143 Bulgaria 0.0433 compare
- 144 Tonga 0.0431 compare
- 146 Azerbaijan 0.0428 compare
- 147 San Marino 0.0414 compare
- 148 Serbia 0.0411 compare
More education data for Australia
- Duration of pre-primary education 2 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 64.2% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 17.7% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 5 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 99.6% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 105,469 (1999)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.64 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 99.7% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is inequality in education in Australia?
- Inequality in education in Australia was 0.0431 in 2023, according to UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest inequality in education recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 0.0593 in 2010.
- What is the lowest inequality in education recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0431 in 2018.
- How does Australia rank for inequality in education?
- Australia ranks 145th out of 184 countries with data for 2023.
- Is inequality in education rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 27.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Inequality in education. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 14 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The Atkinson index measures inequality on a scale from 0 to 1. Higher values indicate higher inequality. Inequality is measured here in terms of the number of years adults older than 25 participated in formal education.