Share of the population with at least some formal education in Uganda
Uganda: Share of the population with at least some formal education was 94.3% in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Share of the population with at least some formal education in Uganda, 1870–2020
Source: Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Uganda recorded 94.3% 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 5.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the population with at least some formal education in Uganda peaked at 94.3% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 1870.
Uganda ranks 69th of 111 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Share of the population with at least some formal education in Uganda, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1870 | 0.0% | — |
| 1875 | 0.0% | — |
| 1880 | 0.0% | — |
| 1885 | 0.0% | — |
| 1890 | 0.0% | — |
| 1895 | 0.0% | — |
| 1900 | 0.0% | — |
| 1905 | 1.9% | — |
| 1910 | 3.7% | +94.7% |
| 1915 | 4.9% | +32.4% |
| 1920 | 10.0% | +104.1% |
| 1925 | 10.7% | +7.0% |
| 1930 | 11.6% | +8.4% |
| 1935 | 12.7% | +9.5% |
| 1940 | 13.4% | +5.5% |
| 1945 | 16.8% | +25.4% |
| 1950 | 20.2% | +20.2% |
| 1955 | 22.9% | +13.4% |
| 1960 | 25.5% | +11.4% |
| 1965 | 31.4% | +23.1% |
| 1970 | 39.6% | +26.1% |
| 1975 | 46.4% | +17.2% |
| 1980 | 49.9% | +7.5% |
| 1985 | 56.5% | +13.2% |
| 1990 | 64.9% | +14.9% |
| 1995 | 72.0% | +10.9% |
| 2000 | 76.9% | +6.8% |
| 2005 | 83.4% | +8.5% |
| 2010 | 89.3% | +7.1% |
| 2015 | 91.9% | +2.9% |
| 2020 | 94.3% | +2.6% |
Uganda compared with similar countries
- Uganda's 94.3% is above the median for low income countries, which is 64.0%, 1.5× the median. (13 countries reporting)
- Uganda's 94.3% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 78.0%, 1.2× the median. (23 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of the population with at least some formal education in Uganda 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | +104.1% | 4.9% | 10.0% |
| 1910 | +94.7% | 1.9% | 3.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2 |
| 1880s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2 |
| 1890s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2 |
| 1900s | 0.9% | 0.0% | 1.9% | 2 |
| 1910s | 4.3% | 3.7% | 4.9% | 2 |
| 1920s | 10.3% | 10.0% | 10.7% | 2 |
| 1930s | 12.1% | 11.6% | 12.7% | 2 |
| 1940s | 15.1% | 13.4% | 16.8% | 2 |
| 1950s | 21.5% | 20.2% | 22.9% | 2 |
| 1960s | 28.4% | 25.5% | 31.4% | 2 |
| 1970s | 43.0% | 39.6% | 46.4% | 2 |
| 1980s | 53.2% | 49.9% | 56.5% | 2 |
| 1990s | 68.5% | 64.9% | 72.0% | 2 |
| 2000s | 80.2% | 76.9% | 83.4% | 2 |
| 2010s | 90.6% | 89.3% | 91.9% | 2 |
| 2020s | 94.3% | 94.3% | 94.3% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Uganda
More education data for Uganda
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 63,957 (2014)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 778,349 (2017)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 301,523 (2017)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 307,450 (2017)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 1.03 million (2007)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 8.84 million (2017)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 2.13 % change on previous year (2017)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0003 units per US$ of GDP (2017)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.22 units per person (2017)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the population with at least some formal education in Uganda?
- Share of the population with at least some formal education in Uganda was 94.3% 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 Uganda?
- The highest recorded value was 94.3% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of the population with at least some formal education recorded in Uganda?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 1870.
- How does Uganda rank for share of the population with at least some formal education?
- Uganda ranks 69th out of 111 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of the population with at least some formal education rising or falling in Uganda?
- Over the last ten years it is up 5.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Uganda 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.