Share of the population with at least some formal education in Barbados
Barbados: Share of the population with at least some formal education was 99.3% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Share of the population with at least some formal education in Barbados, 1870–2020
Source: Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2020, share of the population with at least some formal education in Barbados stood at 99.3%.
That represents a change of down 0.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the population with at least some formal education in Barbados peaked at 100.0% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 24.5%, in 1870.
Barbados ranks 20th of 111 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 31 years of available data.
Share of the population with at least some formal education in Barbados, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1870 | 24.5% | — |
| 1875 | 27.6% | +12.7% |
| 1880 | 31.2% | +13.0% |
| 1885 | 32.6% | +4.5% |
| 1890 | 34.4% | +5.5% |
| 1895 | 35.0% | +1.7% |
| 1900 | 37.3% | +6.6% |
| 1905 | 47.3% | +26.8% |
| 1910 | 47.6% | +0.6% |
| 1915 | 55.0% | +15.5% |
| 1920 | 64.2% | +16.7% |
| 1925 | 69.0% | +7.5% |
| 1930 | 72.7% | +5.4% |
| 1935 | 78.6% | +8.1% |
| 1940 | 85.1% | +8.3% |
| 1945 | 91.8% | +7.9% |
| 1950 | 97.7% | +6.4% |
| 1955 | 98.1% | +0.4% |
| 1960 | 98.5% | +0.4% |
| 1965 | 98.9% | +0.4% |
| 1970 | 99.4% | +0.5% |
| 1975 | 99.3% | -0.1% |
| 1980 | 98.6% | -0.7% |
| 1985 | 99.3% | +0.7% |
| 1990 | 99.2% | -0.1% |
| 1995 | 99.4% | +0.2% |
| 2000 | 100.0% | +0.6% |
| 2005 | 100.0% | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 99.8% | -0.2% |
| 2015 | 99.2% | -0.6% |
| 2020 | 99.3% | +0.1% |
Barbados compared with similar countries
- Barbados's 99.3% is above the median for high income countries, which is 99.0%, 1.0× the median. (41 countries reporting)
- Barbados's 99.3% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 97.1%, 1.0× the median. (25 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of the population with at least some formal education in Barbados changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1905 | +26.8% | 37.3% | 47.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 26.1% | 24.5% | 27.6% | 2 |
| 1880s | 31.9% | 31.2% | 32.6% | 2 |
| 1890s | 34.7% | 34.4% | 35.0% | 2 |
| 1900s | 42.3% | 37.3% | 47.3% | 2 |
| 1910s | 51.3% | 47.6% | 55.0% | 2 |
| 1920s | 66.6% | 64.2% | 69.0% | 2 |
| 1930s | 75.7% | 72.7% | 78.6% | 2 |
| 1940s | 88.4% | 85.1% | 91.8% | 2 |
| 1950s | 97.9% | 97.7% | 98.1% | 2 |
| 1960s | 98.7% | 98.5% | 98.9% | 2 |
| 1970s | 99.3% | 99.3% | 99.4% | 2 |
| 1980s | 98.9% | 98.6% | 99.3% | 2 |
| 1990s | 99.3% | 99.2% | 99.4% | 2 |
| 2000s | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 2 |
| 2010s | 99.5% | 99.2% | 99.8% | 2 |
| 2020s | 99.3% | 99.3% | 99.3% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Barbados
More education data for Barbados
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 1,244 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 279 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 2,255 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 2,277 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 18,457 (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 16,314 (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -5.2 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0578 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the population with at least some formal education in Barbados?
- Share of the population with at least some formal education in Barbados was 99.3% in 2020, according to Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of the population with at least some formal education recorded in Barbados?
- The highest recorded value was 100.0% in 2000.
- What is the lowest share of the population with at least some formal education recorded in Barbados?
- The lowest recorded value was 24.5% in 1870.
- How does Barbados rank for share of the population with at least some formal education?
- Barbados ranks 20th out of 111 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of the population with at least some formal education rising or falling in Barbados?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Barbados data come from?
- The figures come from Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of the population with at least some formal education. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 31 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Based on the population aged 15 years and older.