Share of children in primary school age who are in school in Rwanda
Rwanda: Share of children in primary school age who are in school was 99.0% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of children in primary school age who are in school in Rwanda, 1973–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026); Lee and Lee (2016) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, share of children in primary school age who are in school in Rwanda stood at 99.0%.
The figure is down 0.5% on the previous year and down 0.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children in primary school age who are in school in Rwanda peaked at 99.9% in 2021 and was at its lowest, 47.1%, in 1975.
Rwanda ranks 48th of 209 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 15 years of available data.
Share of children in primary school age who are in school in Rwanda, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 50.4% | — |
| 1974 | 48.9% | -2.9% |
| 1975 | 47.1% | -3.7% |
| 1977 | 50.9% | +8.1% |
| 1978 | 53.4% | +4.8% |
| 1999 | 65.4% | +22.6% |
| 2002 | 88.7% | +35.6% |
| 2003 | 87.5% | -1.3% |
| 2016 | 99.2% | +13.3% |
| 2017 | 98.8% | -0.4% |
| 2018 | 98.6% | -0.2% |
| 2019 | 98.4% | -0.2% |
| 2021 | 99.9% | +1.5% |
| 2023 | 99.5% | -0.4% |
| 2024 | 99.0% | -0.5% |
Rwanda compared with similar countries
- Rwanda's 99.0% is above the median for low income countries, which is 69.5%, 1.4× the median. (23 countries reporting)
- Rwanda's 99.0% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 84.5%, 1.2× the median. (46 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of children in primary school age who are in school in Rwanda 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | +35.6% | 65.4% | 88.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 50.2% | 47.1% | 53.4% | 5 |
| 1990s | 65.4% | 65.4% | 65.4% | 1 |
| 2000s | 88.1% | 87.5% | 88.7% | 2 |
| 2010s | 98.8% | 98.4% | 99.2% | 4 |
| 2020s | 99.5% | 99.0% | 99.9% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Rwanda
- 45 Denmark 99.1% compare
- 46 Morocco 99.1% compare
- 47 Maldives 99.1% compare
- 49 Guadeloupe 99.0% compare
- 50 Mozambique 99.0% compare
- 51 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 99.0% compare
More education data for Rwanda
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 34,324 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 795,920 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 305,636 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 299,593 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 901,617 (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 3.01 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 5.93 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0002 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.2109 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children in primary school age who are in school in Rwanda?
- Share of children in primary school age who are in school in Rwanda was 99.0% 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 Rwanda?
- The highest recorded value was 99.9% in 2021.
- What is the lowest share of children in primary school age who are in school recorded in Rwanda?
- The lowest recorded value was 47.1% in 1975.
- How does Rwanda rank for share of children in primary school age who are in school?
- Rwanda ranks 48th out of 209 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of children in primary school age who are in school rising or falling in Rwanda?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Rwanda 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 — 15 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Share of children of primary school age (typically 6–11 years) who are enrolled in primary education.