School age population, primary education, both sexes in Thailand
Thailand: School age population, primary education, both sexes was 4.41 million in 2025. ▼ Falling
Latest (2025)
4.41 million
Change on year
down 1.0%
World rank
36th
of 222 countries
All-time high
8.21 million
in 1978
All-time low
4.41 million
in 2025
Years of data
56
1970–2025
School age population, primary education, both sexes in Thailand, 1970–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Analysis
In 2025, school age population, primary education, both sexes in Thailand stood at 4.41 million. That is the lowest value across all 56 years on record.
That represents a change of down 1.0% on the previous year and down 10.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school age population, primary education, both sexes in Thailand peaked at 8.21 million in 1978 and was at its lowest, 4.41 million, in 2025.
Thailand ranks 36th of 222 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 56 years of available data.
School age population, primary education, both sexes in Thailand, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 6.74 million | — |
| 1971 | 6.96 million | +3.2% |
| 1972 | 7.18 million | +3.1% |
| 1973 | 7.39 million | +3.0% |
| 1974 | 7.60 million | +2.8% |
| 1975 | 7.79 million | +2.6% |
| 1976 | 7.97 million | +2.3% |
| 1977 | 8.11 million | +1.8% |
| 1978 | 8.21 million | +1.2% |
| 1979 | 7.14 million | -13.0% |
| 1980 | 7.16 million | +0.4% |
| 1981 | 7.17 million | +0.1% |
| 1982 | 7.16 million | -0.2% |
| 1983 | 7.13 million | -0.3% |
| 1984 | 7.11 million | -0.4% |
| 1985 | 7.06 million | -0.7% |
| 1986 | 6.99 million | -1.0% |
| 1987 | 6.93 million | -1.0% |
| 1988 | 6.83 million | -1.4% |
| 1989 | 6.77 million | -0.8% |
| 1990 | 6.71 million | -1.0% |
| 1991 | 6.63 million | -1.1% |
| 1992 | 6.57 million | -0.9% |
| 1993 | 6.52 million | -0.7% |
| 1994 | 6.47 million | -0.8% |
| 1995 | 6.42 million | -0.8% |
| 1996 | 6.39 million | -0.5% |
| 1997 | 6.36 million | -0.4% |
| 1998 | 6.33 million | -0.4% |
| 1999 | 6.31 million | -0.4% |
| 2000 | 6.32 million | +0.2% |
| 2001 | 6.32 million | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 6.30 million | -0.2% |
| 2003 | 6.26 million | -0.7% |
| 2004 | 6.18 million | -1.3% |
| 2005 | 6.07 million | -1.8% |
| 2006 | 5.94 million | -2.2% |
| 2007 | 5.83 million | -1.8% |
| 2008 | 5.76 million | -1.1% |
| 2009 | 5.74 million | -0.4% |
| 2010 | 5.77 million | +0.4% |
| 2011 | 5.27 million | -8.5% |
| 2012 | 5.19 million | -1.6% |
| 2013 | 5.10 million | -1.7% |
| 2014 | 5.01 million | -1.8% |
| 2015 | 4.92 million | -1.8% |
| 2016 | 4.83 million | -1.9% |
| 2017 | 4.73 million | -2.0% |
| 2018 | 4.67 million | -1.3% |
| 2019 | 4.61 million | -1.2% |
| 2020 | 4.57 million | -1.0% |
| 2021 | 4.53 million | -0.8% |
| 2022 | 4.51 million | -0.5% |
| 2023 | 4.50 million | -0.3% |
| 2024 | 4.46 million | -0.9% |
| 2025 | 4.41 million | -1.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 7.51 million | 6.74 million | 8.21 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 7.03 million | 6.77 million | 7.17 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 6.47 million | 6.31 million | 6.71 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 6.07 million | 5.74 million | 6.32 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 5.01 million | 4.61 million | 5.77 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.50 million | 4.41 million | 4.57 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near Thailand
More education data for Thailand
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), gaps filled 2,023 tertiary education (2024)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), annual growth 0.0495 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 305,368 (2025)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 69.6% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 14.4% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school age population, primary education, both sexes in Thailand?
- School age population, primary education, both sexes in Thailand was 4.41 million in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school age population, primary education, both sexes recorded in Thailand?
- The highest recorded value was 8.21 million in 1978.
- What is the lowest school age population, primary education, both sexes recorded in Thailand?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.41 million in 2025.
- How does Thailand rank for school age population, primary education, both sexes?
- Thailand ranks 36th out of 222 countries with data for 2025.
- Is school age population, primary education, both sexes rising or falling in Thailand?
- Over the last ten years it is down 10.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Thailand data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of School age population, primary education, both sexes (number). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 56 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release