Share of the population with at least some formal education in Jamaica
Jamaica: Share of the population with at least some formal education was 94.9% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Share of the population with at least some formal education in Jamaica, 1870–2020
Source: Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Jamaica recorded 94.9% for share of the population with at least some formal education in 2020.
The figure is up 0.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the population with at least some formal education in Jamaica peaked at 97.9% in 1980 and was at its lowest, 17.6%, in 1870.
Jamaica ranks 67th of 111 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 31 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 19.1% | 17.6% | 20.5% | 2 |
| 1880s | 27.1% | 24.1% | 30.1% | 2 |
| 1890s | 41.5% | 37.6% | 45.4% | 2 |
| 1900s | 54.9% | 51.2% | 58.6% | 2 |
| 1910s | 64.0% | 62.8% | 65.3% | 2 |
| 1920s | 68.8% | 67.9% | 69.6% | 2 |
| 1930s | 73.4% | 71.3% | 75.5% | 2 |
| 1940s | 79.8% | 78.7% | 81.0% | 2 |
| 1950s | 83.0% | 82.4% | 83.6% | 2 |
| 1960s | 87.8% | 84.7% | 90.8% | 2 |
| 1970s | 97.0% | 96.6% | 97.5% | 2 |
| 1980s | 97.0% | 96.0% | 97.9% | 2 |
| 1990s | 95.6% | 95.1% | 96.1% | 2 |
| 2000s | 94.9% | 94.8% | 95.1% | 2 |
| 2010s | 94.7% | 94.7% | 94.7% | 2 |
| 2020s | 94.9% | 94.9% | 94.9% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Jamaica
More education data for Jamaica
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 73.1% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 18.3% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 97.3% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 11,768 (2024)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.35 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 97.1% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the population with at least some formal education in Jamaica?
- Share of the population with at least some formal education in Jamaica was 94.9% 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 Jamaica?
- The highest recorded value was 97.9% in 1980.
- What is the lowest share of the population with at least some formal education recorded in Jamaica?
- The lowest recorded value was 17.6% in 1870.
- How does Jamaica rank for share of the population with at least some formal education?
- Jamaica ranks 67th out of 111 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of the population with at least some formal education rising or falling in Jamaica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Jamaica 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.