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

Suriname: Share of children in primary school age who are in school was 83.8% in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
83.8%
Change on year
up 38.7%
World rank
173rd
of 209 countries
All-time high
96.0%
in 1978
All-time low
60.4%
in 2023
Years of data
26
1977–2024

Share of children in primary school age who are in school in Suriname, 1977–2024

0204060801001977200020241977: 94.5 %1978: 96 %1985: 93.5 %1987: 88.6 %1988: 88.5 %1989: 93 %2005: 82 %2006: 81.9 %2007: 78.1 %2008: 82.1 %2009: 84 %2010: 81.9 %2011: 81.4 %2012: 82.1 %2013: 82.7 %2014: 83.1 %2015: 86 %2016: 86.3 %2017: 80.9 %2018: 80.9 %2019: 83.6 %2020: 82.1 %2021: 78.2 %2022: 70.2 %2023: 60.4 %2024: 83.8 %

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 Suriname stood at 83.8%.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 38.7% on the previous year and up 0.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of children in primary school age who are in school in Suriname peaked at 96.0% in 1978 and was at its lowest, 60.4%, in 2023.

That places Suriname 173rd out of 209 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 26 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 95.2% 94.5% 96.0% 2
1980s 90.9% 88.5% 93.5% 4
2000s 81.6% 78.1% 84.0% 5
2010s 82.9% 80.9% 86.3% 10
2020s 74.9% 60.4% 83.8% 5

Countries ranked near Suriname

  1. 170 El Salvador 84.7% compare
  2. 171 Romania 84.4% compare
  3. 172 Bahamas 84.1% compare
  4. 174 Tanzania 83.6% compare
  5. 175 Gambia 83.1% compare
  6. 176 Congo 82.9% compare

See the full ranking of 209 places →

More education data for Suriname

All data for Suriname →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of children in primary school age who are in school in Suriname?
Share of children in primary school age who are in school in Suriname was 83.8% 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 Suriname?
The highest recorded value was 96.0% in 1978.
What is the lowest share of children in primary school age who are in school recorded in Suriname?
The lowest recorded value was 60.4% in 2023.
How does Suriname rank for share of children in primary school age who are in school?
Suriname ranks 173rd out of 209 countries with data for 2024.
Is share of children in primary school age who are in school rising or falling in Suriname?
Over the last ten years it is up 0.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Suriname 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 — 26 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.