School completion in China
China: School completion was 99.02 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
99.02
Change on year
up 0.1%
World rank
57th
of 165 countries
All-time high
99.02
in 2025
All-time low
82.08
in 1981
Years of data
45
1981–2025
School completion in China, 1981–2025
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, school completion in China stood at 99.02. That is the highest value across all 45 years on record.
The figure is up 0.1% on the previous year and up 1.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school completion in China peaked at 99.02 in 2025 and was at its lowest, 82.08, in 1981.
That places China 57th out of 165 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 45 years of available data.
School completion in China, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 82.08 | — |
| 1982 | 82.55 | +0.6% |
| 1983 | 82.98 | +0.5% |
| 1984 | 83.48 | +0.6% |
| 1985 | 84.01 | +0.6% |
| 1986 | 84.59 | +0.7% |
| 1987 | 85.15 | +0.7% |
| 1988 | 85.69 | +0.6% |
| 1989 | 86.18 | +0.6% |
| 1990 | 86.61 | +0.5% |
| 1991 | 87.11 | +0.6% |
| 1992 | 87.72 | +0.7% |
| 1993 | 88.46 | +0.8% |
| 1994 | 89.15 | +0.8% |
| 1995 | 89.73 | +0.7% |
| 1996 | 90.17 | +0.5% |
| 1997 | 90.58 | +0.5% |
| 1998 | 90.93 | +0.4% |
| 1999 | 91.38 | +0.5% |
| 2000 | 91.95 | +0.6% |
| 2001 | 92.64 | +0.8% |
| 2002 | 93.31 | +0.7% |
| 2003 | 93.9 | +0.6% |
| 2004 | 94.4 | +0.5% |
| 2005 | 94.85 | +0.5% |
| 2006 | 95.27 | +0.4% |
| 2007 | 95.66 | +0.4% |
| 2008 | 96.01 | +0.4% |
| 2009 | 96.31 | +0.3% |
| 2010 | 96.56 | +0.3% |
| 2011 | 96.75 | +0.2% |
| 2012 | 96.9 | +0.2% |
| 2013 | 97.04 | +0.1% |
| 2014 | 97.2 | +0.2% |
| 2015 | 97.39 | +0.2% |
| 2016 | 97.6 | +0.2% |
| 2017 | 97.81 | +0.2% |
| 2018 | 98.01 | +0.2% |
| 2019 | 98.19 | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 98.36 | +0.2% |
| 2021 | 98.52 | +0.2% |
| 2022 | 98.65 | +0.1% |
| 2023 | 98.78 | +0.1% |
| 2024 | 98.91 | +0.1% |
| 2025 | 99.02 | +0.1% |
China compared with similar countries
- China's 99.02 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 98.69, 1.0× the median. (50 countries reporting)
- China's 99.02 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 98.58, 1.0× the median. (22 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 84.08 | 82.08 | 86.18 | 9 |
| 1990s | 89.18 | 86.61 | 91.38 | 10 |
| 2000s | 94.43 | 91.95 | 96.31 | 10 |
| 2010s | 97.34 | 96.56 | 98.19 | 10 |
| 2020s | 98.71 | 98.36 | 99.02 | 6 |
Countries ranked near China
More education data for China
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 93.37 (1997)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 93.32 (1997)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 7.41 million (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 7,020 (2021)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 21.58 million (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 19.36 million (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 97.98 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 108.57 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 0.9587 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school completion in China?
- School completion in China was 99.02 in 2025, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest school completion recorded in China?
- The highest recorded value was 99.02 in 2025.
- What is the lowest school completion recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 82.08 in 1981.
- How does China rank for school completion?
- China ranks 57th out of 165 countries with data for 2025.
- Is school completion rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this China data come from?
- The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of School completion. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 45 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).