Share of the population with at least some formal education in Hong Kong
Hong Kong: Share of the population with at least some formal education was 99.5% in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Share of the population with at least some formal education in Hong Kong, 1870–2020
Source: Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Hong Kong recorded 99.5% for share of the population with at least some formal education in 2020. That is the highest value across all 31 years on record.
The figure is up 0.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the population with at least some formal education in Hong Kong peaked at 99.5% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.1%, in 1870.
That places Hong Kong 16th out of 111 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the top quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.4% | 2 |
| 1880s | 1.4% | 0.9% | 1.9% | 2 |
| 1890s | 4.8% | 3.5% | 6.0% | 2 |
| 1900s | 10.7% | 9.5% | 11.8% | 2 |
| 1910s | 18.2% | 16.2% | 20.2% | 2 |
| 1920s | 27.0% | 23.5% | 30.5% | 2 |
| 1930s | 40.3% | 36.6% | 44.0% | 2 |
| 1940s | 57.4% | 54.3% | 60.5% | 2 |
| 1950s | 64.5% | 62.4% | 66.5% | 2 |
| 1960s | 73.5% | 70.0% | 77.0% | 2 |
| 1970s | 81.2% | 79.1% | 83.4% | 2 |
| 1980s | 89.0% | 87.7% | 90.2% | 2 |
| 1990s | 91.2% | 90.1% | 92.2% | 2 |
| 2000s | 93.6% | 89.4% | 97.7% | 2 |
| 2010s | 98.8% | 98.6% | 99.0% | 2 |
| 2020s | 99.5% | 99.5% | 99.5% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Hong Kong
More education data for Hong Kong
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 10.3% (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 66.0% (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 103.2% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 28,284 (2024)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 0.727 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 101.6% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the population with at least some formal education in Hong Kong?
- Share of the population with at least some formal education in Hong Kong was 99.5% 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 Hong Kong?
- The highest recorded value was 99.5% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of the population with at least some formal education recorded in Hong Kong?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.1% in 1870.
- How does Hong Kong rank for share of the population with at least some formal education?
- Hong Kong ranks 16th out of 111 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of the population with at least some formal education rising or falling in Hong Kong?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Hong Kong 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.