Share of the population with at least some formal education in Panama
Panama: Share of the population with at least some formal education was 95.9% in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Share of the population with at least some formal education in Panama, 1870–2020
Source: Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Panama recorded 95.9% for share of the population with at least some formal education in 2020. That is the highest value across all 31 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the population with at least some formal education in Panama peaked at 95.9% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 2.2%, in 1870.
That places Panama 63rd out of 111 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.
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 | 2.5% | 2.2% | 2.7% | 2 |
| 1880s | 3.8% | 3.4% | 4.3% | 2 |
| 1890s | 6.2% | 5.5% | 6.8% | 2 |
| 1900s | 21.1% | 19.0% | 23.3% | 2 |
| 1910s | 34.0% | 31.5% | 36.5% | 2 |
| 1920s | 42.1% | 40.3% | 44.0% | 2 |
| 1930s | 53.9% | 50.0% | 57.8% | 2 |
| 1940s | 64.0% | 62.3% | 65.8% | 2 |
| 1950s | 71.1% | 68.8% | 73.4% | 2 |
| 1960s | 79.2% | 78.4% | 80.0% | 2 |
| 1970s | 82.9% | 81.1% | 84.8% | 2 |
| 1980s | 89.2% | 87.9% | 90.5% | 2 |
| 1990s | 92.7% | 92.2% | 93.2% | 2 |
| 2000s | 94.4% | 94.3% | 94.6% | 2 |
| 2010s | 95.2% | 94.8% | 95.5% | 2 |
| 2020s | 95.9% | 95.9% | 95.9% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Panama
More education data for Panama
- Duration of pre-primary education 2 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 4 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 65.8% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 24.5% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 96.9% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 19,072 (2017)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 2.11 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 97.3% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the population with at least some formal education in Panama?
- Share of the population with at least some formal education in Panama was 95.9% 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 Panama?
- The highest recorded value was 95.9% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of the population with at least some formal education recorded in Panama?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.2% in 1870.
- How does Panama rank for share of the population with at least some formal education?
- Panama ranks 63rd out of 111 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of the population with at least some formal education rising or falling in Panama?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Panama 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.