Inequality in education in Nigeria
Nigeria: Inequality in education was 0.3783 in 2023. ▼ Falling
Inequality in education in Nigeria, 2010–2023
Source: UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for inequality in education in Nigeria is 0.3783, measured in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 14 years on record.
That represents a change of down 12.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, inequality in education in Nigeria peaked at 0.4524 in 2010 and was at its lowest, 0.3783, in 2021.
Nigeria ranks 27th of 184 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 14 years of available data.
Inequality in education in Nigeria, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 0.4524 | — |
| 2011 | 0.4524 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 0.4524 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 0.433 | -4.3% |
| 2014 | 0.433 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 0.433 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 0.3809 | -12.0% |
| 2017 | 0.3809 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 0.4042 | +6.1% |
| 2019 | 0.4042 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 0.4042 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 0.3783 | -6.4% |
| 2022 | 0.3783 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 0.3783 | +0.0% |
Nigeria compared with similar countries
- Nigeria's 0.3783 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.3021, 1.3× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Nigeria's 0.3783 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.3425, 1.1× the median. (46 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 0.4226 | 0.3809 | 0.4524 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.3848 | 0.3783 | 0.4042 | 4 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
More education data for Nigeria
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 912,245 (2021)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 1.08 million (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 1.24 million (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 15.20 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 33.42 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 1.18 % change on previous year (2021)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.1466 units per person (2023)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is inequality in education in Nigeria?
- Inequality in education in Nigeria was 0.3783 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 Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 0.4524 in 2010.
- What is the lowest inequality in education recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3783 in 2021.
- How does Nigeria rank for inequality in education?
- Nigeria ranks 27th out of 184 countries with data for 2023.
- Is inequality in education rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is down 12.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Nigeria 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.