Share of children in primary school age who are in school in Botswana

Botswana: Share of children in primary school age who are in school was 99.5% in 2022. ▲ Rising

Latest (2022)
99.5%
World rank
30th
of 209 countries
All-time high
99.5%
in 2022
All-time low
47.4%
in 1971
Years of data
42
1970–2022

Share of children in primary school age who are in school in Botswana, 1970–2022

0204060801001970199620221970: 50 %1971: 47.4 %1972: 49.1 %1973: 52.6 %1974: 57.1 %1975: 64.2 %1976: 69 %1977: 73.6 %1978: 74.6 %1979: 75.7 %1980: 79.7 %1981: 85 %1983: 88.8 %1984: 88.9 %1985: 90.9 %1986: 91.3 %1987: 91 %1988: 90.7 %1989: 91.1 %1990: 90.2 %1991: 92.3 %1992: 91.1 %1993: 89.9 %1994: 89.3 %1995: 79.9 %1996: 80.3 %1998: 83.3 %1999: 82.7 %2000: 83.8 %2001: 85.5 %2002: 86 %2003: 86.8 %2004: 88.4 %2005: 89.4 %2006: 90.7 %2007: 89.7 %2008: 89.1 %2009: 88.9 %2012: 90.9 %2013: 89.3 %2014: 88.1 %2022: 99.5 %

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026); Lee and Lee (2016) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

Botswana recorded 99.5% for share of children in primary school age who are in school in 2022. That is the highest value across all 42 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 9.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of children in primary school age who are in school in Botswana peaked at 99.5% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 47.4%, in 1971.

Botswana ranks 30th of 209 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 42 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 61.3% 47.4% 75.7% 10
1980s 88.6% 79.7% 91.3% 9
1990s 86.6% 79.9% 92.3% 9
2000s 87.8% 83.8% 90.7% 10
2010s 89.4% 88.1% 90.9% 3
2020s 99.5% 99.5% 99.5% 1

Countries ranked near Botswana

  1. 27 Portugal 99.5% compare
  2. 28 Netherlands 99.5% compare
  3. 29 Saudi Arabia 99.5% compare
  4. 31 Tuvalu 99.5% compare
  5. 32 Sweden 99.4% compare
  6. 33 Turkey 99.4% compare

See the full ranking of 209 places →

More education data for Botswana

All data for Botswana →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of children in primary school age who are in school in Botswana?
Share of children in primary school age who are in school in Botswana was 99.5% in 2022, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026); Lee and Lee (2016) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest share of children in primary school age who are in school recorded in Botswana?
The highest recorded value was 99.5% in 2022.
What is the lowest share of children in primary school age who are in school recorded in Botswana?
The lowest recorded value was 47.4% in 1971.
How does Botswana rank for share of children in primary school age who are in school?
Botswana ranks 30th out of 209 countries with data for 2022.
Is share of children in primary school age who are in school rising or falling in Botswana?
Over the last ten years it is up 9.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Botswana data come from?
The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026); Lee and Lee (2016) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of children in primary school age who are in school. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 42 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Share of children in primary school age who are in school
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026); Lee and Lee (2016) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
209 places, 8,478 data points, 1820–2025
Last refreshed

The share of children of primary school age (typically 6–11 years) who are enrolled in primary education.