Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from was 2.4% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in Sri Lanka, 2012–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2023, percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in Sri Lanka stood at 2.4%.
The figure is down 36.1% on the previous year and down 39.7% over five years.
Over the whole period, percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in Sri Lanka peaked at 4.0% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 2012.
That places Sri Lanka 103rd out of 121 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 10 years of available data.
Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 0.0% | — |
| 2015 | 0.9% | — |
| 2016 | 3.3% | +272.1% |
| 2017 | 3.9% | +17.4% |
| 2018 | 3.9% | +0.9% |
| 2019 | 3.2% | -19.1% |
| 2020 | 4.0% | +26.8% |
| 2021 | 3.8% | -5.8% |
| 2022 | 3.7% | -2.3% |
| 2023 | 2.4% | -36.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 2.5% | 0.0% | 3.9% | 6 |
| 2020s | 3.5% | 2.4% | 4.0% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
- 100 Belize 3.2% compare
- 101 Republic of Moldova 3.2% compare
- 102 Ethiopia 3.1%
- 104 Brunei Darussalam 2.3% compare
- 105 British Virgin Islands 2.3% compare
- 106 Saudi Arabia 2.3% compare
More education data for Sri Lanka
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 0 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 224,799 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 214,300 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.54 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 1.58 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -2.89 % change on previous year (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0715 units per person (2023)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in Sri Lanka?
- Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in Sri Lanka was 2.4% in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 4.0% in 2020.
- What is the lowest percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 2012.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from?
- Sri Lanka ranks 103rd out of 121 countries with data for 2023.
- Where does this Sri Lanka data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from Social Sciences, Journalism and Information programmes, male (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 10 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release