Share of children in primary school age who are in school in Germany
Germany: Share of children in primary school age who are in school was 99.7% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of children in primary school age who are in school in Germany, 1820–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026); Lee and Lee (2016) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of children in primary school age who are in school in Germany is 99.7%, measured in 2024.
The figure is down 0.1% on the previous year and up 1.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children in primary school age who are in school in Germany peaked at 100.0% in 1960 and was at its lowest, 21.2%, in 1820.
That places Germany 22nd out of 209 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 57 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1820s | 22.3% | 21.2% | 23.4% | 2 |
| 1830s | 27.1% | 25.8% | 28.4% | 2 |
| 1840s | 32.5% | 31.1% | 33.9% | 2 |
| 1850s | 38.4% | 36.9% | 40.0% | 2 |
| 1860s | 44.7% | 43.1% | 46.4% | 2 |
| 1870s | 51.2% | 49.6% | 52.9% | 2 |
| 1880s | 56.6% | 53.9% | 59.2% | 2 |
| 1890s | 57.9% | 57.5% | 58.4% | 2 |
| 1900s | 57.1% | 56.1% | 58.2% | 2 |
| 1910s | 89.8% | 87.3% | 92.2% | 2 |
| 1920s | 88.1% | 79.2% | 97.1% | 2 |
| 1930s | 85.9% | 85.1% | 86.7% | 2 |
| 1940s | 90.1% | 87.3% | 92.8% | 2 |
| 1950s | 87.9% | 77.6% | 98.2% | 2 |
| 1960s | 91.4% | 82.8% | 100.0% | 2 |
| 1970s | 85.4% | 82.8% | 88.0% | 2 |
| 1980s | 82.0% | 82.0% | 82.0% | 1 |
| 2000s | 98.3% | 97.7% | 99.5% | 9 |
| 2010s | 99.0% | 98.3% | 99.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 99.0% | 98.1% | 99.8% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Germany
More education data for Germany
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 62.4% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 13.9% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 10 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 102.6% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 283,851 (2024)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.45 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 103.0% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children in primary school age who are in school in Germany?
- Share of children in primary school age who are in school in Germany was 99.7% in 2024, 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 Germany?
- The highest recorded value was 100.0% in 1960.
- What is the lowest share of children in primary school age who are in school recorded in Germany?
- The lowest recorded value was 21.2% in 1820.
- How does Germany rank for share of children in primary school age who are in school?
- Germany ranks 22nd out of 209 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of children in primary school age who are in school rising or falling in Germany?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Germany 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 — 57 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The share of children of primary school age (typically 6–11 years) who are enrolled in primary education.