Primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in Kenya
Kenya: Primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates was 98.2% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in Kenya, 1970–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2023, primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in Kenya stood at 98.2%.
That represents a change of down 0.3% on the previous year and down 11.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in Kenya peaked at 118.2% in 1983 and was at its lowest, 60.3%, in 1970.
That places Kenya 130th out of 217 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 49 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 86.8% | 60.3% | 115.6% | 10 |
| 1980s | 112.9% | 108.0% | 118.2% | 10 |
| 1990s | 97.9% | 90.7% | 105.3% | 8 |
| 2000s | 101.4% | 89.2% | 107.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 101.0% | 77.5% | 111.4% | 7 |
| 2020s | 95.6% | 92.0% | 98.6% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Kenya
More education data for Kenya
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 60.7% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 36.3% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 98.2% (2023)
- Primary education, teachers 281,500 (2023)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 3.17 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 96.6% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in Kenya?
- Primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in Kenya was 98.2% in 2023, 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 Kenya?
- The highest recorded value was 118.2% in 1983.
- What is the lowest primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates recorded in Kenya?
- The lowest recorded value was 60.3% in 1970.
- How does Kenya rank for primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates?
- Kenya ranks 130th out of 217 countries with data for 2023.
- Is primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates rising or falling in Kenya?
- Over the last ten years it is down 11.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Kenya 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.