School age population, early childhood educational development in South Africa
South Africa: School age population, early childhood educational development was 1.71 million in 2025. ▲ Rising
School age population, early childhood educational development in South Africa, 1998–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Analysis
South Africa recorded 1.71 million for school age population, early childhood educational development in 2025.
The figure is down 2.7% on the previous year and up 0.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school age population, early childhood educational development in South Africa peaked at 1.80 million in 2022 and was at its lowest, 1.10 million, in 1998.
That places South Africa 8th out of 104 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 28 years of available data.
School age population, early childhood educational development in South Africa, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 1.10 million | — |
| 1999 | 1.54 million | +39.9% |
| 2000 | 1.50 million | -2.5% |
| 2001 | 1.47 million | -2.5% |
| 2002 | 1.44 million | -1.9% |
| 2003 | 1.41 million | -1.8% |
| 2004 | 1.42 million | +0.6% |
| 2005 | 1.45 million | +2.4% |
| 2006 | 1.51 million | +3.8% |
| 2007 | 1.57 million | +3.8% |
| 2008 | 1.61 million | +2.6% |
| 2009 | 1.67 million | +3.7% |
| 2010 | 1.68 million | +0.9% |
| 2011 | 1.69 million | +0.2% |
| 2012 | 1.66 million | -1.5% |
| 2013 | 1.67 million | +0.3% |
| 2014 | 1.67 million | +0.3% |
| 2015 | 1.70 million | +1.8% |
| 2016 | 1.72 million | +1.0% |
| 2017 | 1.69 million | -1.5% |
| 2018 | 1.65 million | -2.5% |
| 2019 | 1.65 million | -0.3% |
| 2020 | 1.68 million | +2.1% |
| 2021 | 1.73 million | +3.0% |
| 2022 | 1.80 million | +3.9% |
| 2023 | 1.79 million | -0.8% |
| 2024 | 1.76 million | -1.5% |
| 2025 | 1.71 million | -2.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 1.32 million | 1.10 million | 1.54 million | 2 |
| 2000s | 1.50 million | 1.41 million | 1.67 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.68 million | 1.65 million | 1.72 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.74 million | 1.68 million | 1.80 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More education data for South Africa
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 287,310 (2023)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre primary education 4 (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 67.4% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 25.7% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 14 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 7 years (2025)
- Primary secondary enrollment completion rates, gaps filled 101.77 (2023)
- School enrollment, primary 101.8% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school age population, early childhood educational development in South Africa?
- School age population, early childhood educational development in South Africa was 1.71 million in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school age population, early childhood educational development recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 1.80 million in 2022.
- What is the lowest school age population, early childhood educational development recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.10 million in 1998.
- How does South Africa rank for school age population, early childhood educational development?
- South Africa ranks 8th out of 104 countries with data for 2025.
- Is school age population, early childhood educational development rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of School age population, early childhood educational development programmes, female (number). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 28 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release