Primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in China
China: Primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates was 99.6% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in China, 1970–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
China recorded 99.6% for primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in 2024.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.5% on the previous year and up 2.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in China peaked at 134.0% in 1987 and was at its lowest, 96.3%, in 2015.
That places China 120th out of 217 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 49 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 112.2% | 106.4% | 120.8% | 10 |
| 1980s | 121.4% | 108.8% | 134.0% | 10 |
| 1990s | 113.3% | 109.9% | 120.9% | 9 |
| 2000s | 107.6% | 105.2% | 115.7% | 5 |
| 2010s | 99.5% | 96.3% | 104.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 99.4% | 98.8% | 100.1% | 5 |
Countries ranked near China
More education data for China
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 69.7% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 15.4% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 99.6% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 6.74 million (2024)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.01 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 100.7% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in China?
- Primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in China was 99.6% 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 China?
- The highest recorded value was 134.0% in 1987.
- What is the lowest primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 96.3% in 2015.
- How does China rank for primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates?
- China ranks 120th out of 217 countries with data for 2024.
- Is primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this China 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 — 49 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.