Primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in Barbados
Barbados: Primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates was 83.9% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in Barbados, 1971–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in Barbados is 83.9%, measured in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 42 years on record.
That represents a change of down 4.6% on the previous year and down 13.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in Barbados peaked at 117.5% in 1989 and was at its lowest, 83.9%, in 2024.
Barbados ranks 198th of 217 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 42 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 100.9% | 94.1% | 108.5% | 9 |
| 1980s | 109.5% | 101.7% | 117.5% | 7 |
| 1990s | 107.4% | 103.2% | 112.1% | 3 |
| 2000s | 102.1% | 99.8% | 104.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 96.4% | 94.4% | 100.6% | 8 |
| 2020s | 89.9% | 83.9% | 94.5% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Barbados
More education data for Barbados
- Duration of pre-primary education 2 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 65.8% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 17.1% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 11 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 5 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 83.9% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 1,592 (2024)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.71 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 83.0% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in Barbados?
- Primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in Barbados was 83.9% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates recorded in Barbados?
- The highest recorded value was 117.5% in 1989.
- What is the lowest primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates recorded in Barbados?
- The lowest recorded value was 83.9% in 2024.
- How does Barbados rank for primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates?
- Barbados ranks 198th out of 217 countries with data for 2024.
- Is primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates rising or falling in Barbados?
- Over the last ten years it is down 13.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Barbados data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates. 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
Number of children of any age group who are enrolled in primary education, expressed as a percentage of the total population of the official primary school age.