Share of the population with at least some formal education by country

Based on the population aged 15 years and older.

Countries reporting
108
Highest
99.9%
Belize
Lowest
41.9%
Niger
Median
97.0%
Years covered
151
1870–2020
Data points
3,441

What the numbers show

Share of the population with at least some formal education is currently reported for 108 countries. The highest value is 99.9% in Belize; the lowest is 41.9% in Niger.

The median across all reporting countries is 97.0%, and the mean is 90.3%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 2.

Over the past decade 82 countries rose and 19 fell. The largest increase was in Mozambique (up 63.2%), and the largest decrease in Guyana (down 2.8%).

Share of the population with at least some formal education: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Belize 99.9% 2020 unchanged rising
1 United Kingdom 99.9% 2020 unchanged rising
3 Cyprus 99.8% 2020 unchanged volatile
3 Czechia 99.8% 2020 unchanged rising
3 Japan 99.8% 2020 down 0.1% rising
3 Netherlands 99.8% 2020 down 0.2% rising
3 Poland 99.8% 2020 unchanged rising
3 Taiwan 99.8% 2020 up 0.2% volatile
9 Hungary 99.7% 2020 unchanged rising
9 South Korea 99.7% 2020 up 0.4% volatile
9 Uruguay 99.7% 2020 up 0.2% volatile
12 Canada 99.6% 2020 up 0.1% rising
12 Finland 99.6% 2020 down 0.1% volatile
12 United States 99.6% 2020 down 0.1% rising
16 Argentina 99.5% 2020 up 0.2% rising
16 Hong Kong 99.5% 2020 up 0.9% volatile
18 Greece 99.4% 2020 up 0.1% rising
18 Trinidad and Tobago 99.4% 2020 unchanged rising
20 Barbados 99.3% 2020 down 0.5% rising
20 Spain 99.3% 2020 up 0.3% rising
22 Australia 99.1% 2020 down 0.4% rising
23 Albania 99.0% 2020 up 0.4% volatile
23 Chile 99.0% 2020 up 0.4% rising
23 Italy 99.0% 2020 up 0.5% rising
23 Mauritius 99.0% 2020 up 1.5% volatile
23 Romania 99.0% 2020 down 0.1% volatile
23 Russia 99.0% 2020 down 0.5% volatile
29 Switzerland 98.9% 2020 up 0.3% rising
29 Fiji 98.9% 2020 up 0.7% volatile
29 France 98.9% 2020 up 0.1% rising
32 Serbia 98.8% 2020 down 0.3% volatile
33 China 98.7% 2020 up 1.3% volatile
34 Germany 98.4% 2020 up 0.1% rising
34 Peru 98.4% 2020 up 1.7% volatile
36 New Zealand 98.3% 2020 down 0.6% rising
37 Bulgaria 98.2% 2020 up 0.2% rising
37 Costa Rica 98.2% 2020 up 0.9% rising
37 Iceland 98.2% 2020 down 0.1% rising
37 Philippines 98.2% 2020 up 0.5% volatile
37 El Salvador 98.2% 2020 up 1.4% volatile
42 Austria 98.1% 2020 down 0.3% rising
42 South Africa 98.1% 2020 up 2.2% volatile
42 Zimbabwe 98.1% 2020 up 1.8% volatile
45 Cuba 98.0% 2020 up 1.6% volatile
45 Venezuela 98.0% 2020 up 1.7% volatile
47 Malaysia 97.8% 2020 up 2.3% volatile
48 Portugal 97.6% 2020 up 1.1% volatile
49 Colombia 97.4% 2020 up 1.9% volatile
49 Indonesia 97.4% 2020 up 2.3% volatile
49 Jordan 97.4% 2020 up 2.3% volatile
52 Kuwait 97.3% 2020 up 3.1% volatile
52 Sri Lanka 97.3% 2020 up 0.3% volatile
54 Ecuador 97.1% 2020 up 3.0% volatile
54 Thailand 97.1% 2020 down 0.2% volatile
56 Belgium 97.0% 2020 up 0.9% rising
58 Paraguay 96.9% 2020 down 0.7% volatile
58 Sweden 96.9% 2020 down 0.8% rising
60 Denmark 96.7% 2020 down 0.4% rising
60 Mexico 96.7% 2020 up 1.6% rising
62 Turkey 96.3% 2020 up 2.6% volatile
63 Panama 95.9% 2020 up 1.2% volatile
64 Brazil 95.8% 2020 up 2.9% volatile
65 Dominican Republic 95.7% 2020 up 2.4% volatile
66 Bolivia 95.1% 2020 up 2.6% volatile
67 Jamaica 94.9% 2020 up 0.2% rising
69 Uganda 94.3% 2020 up 5.6% volatile
70 Honduras 93.6% 2020 up 3.8% volatile
70 Kenya 93.6% 2020 up 10.4% volatile
72 Zambia 93.2% 2020 up 5.9% volatile
73 Guyana 93.1% 2020 down 2.8% rising
74 Lesotho 92.7% 2020 up 2.4% volatile
74 Reunion 92.7% 2020 down 1.4% volatile
76 Norway 92.3% 2020 down 1.2% rising
77 Malawi 91.8% 2020 up 8.9% volatile
78 Syria 91.6% 2020 up 4.9% volatile
79 Myanmar 91.5% 2020 up 5.8% volatile
80 Iran 90.8% 2020 up 2.9% volatile
81 Tunisia 90.6% 2020 up 6.6% volatile
82 Nicaragua 90.3% 2020 up 6.7% volatile
83 Algeria 89.6% 2020 up 8.2% volatile
84 Guatemala 89.5% 2020 up 10.8% volatile
85 Cameroon 87.7% 2020 up 6.6% volatile
86 Cambodia 87.3% 2020 up 8.4% volatile
87 Iraq 86.8% 2020 up 10.7% volatile
88 Haiti 85.2% 2020 up 10.5% volatile
89 Libya 85.1% 2020 up 4.8% volatile
90 Ghana 84.1% 2020 up 12.7% volatile
91 Eswatini 79.9% 2020 up 13.5% volatile
92 Nepal 79.5% 2020 up 18.7% volatile
93 India 79.4% 2020 up 13.6% volatile
94 Egypt 79.2% 2020 up 10.3% volatile
95 Bangladesh 78.1% 2020 up 12.2% volatile
96 Togo 78.0% 2020 up 18.7% volatile
97 Morocco 71.8% 2020 up 20.7% volatile
98 Cote d'Ivoire 70.7% 2020 up 12.0% volatile
99 Democratic Republic of Congo 69.3% 2020 up 21.4% volatile
100 Pakistan 68.6% 2020 up 22.3% volatile
101 Afghanistan 66.1% 2020 up 52.7% volatile
102 Sierra Leone 64.9% 2020 up 43.9% volatile
103 Liberia 64.0% 2020 up 15.7% volatile
104 Benin 62.6% 2020 up 31.2% volatile
105 Yemen 62.0% 2020 up 39.6% volatile
106 Senegal 58.0% 2020 up 25.3% volatile
107 Mozambique 54.5% 2020 up 63.2% volatile
108 Sudan 54.4% 2020 up 13.1% volatile
109 Gambia 52.9% 2020 up 31.9% volatile
110 Mali 43.0% 2020 up 57.5% volatile
111 Niger 41.9% 2020 up 50.2% volatile

About this data

Indicator
Share of the population with at least some formal education
Unit
%
Source
Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
111 places, 3,441 data points, 1870–2020
Last refreshed

Based on the population aged 15 years and older.