School completion in Nigeria
Nigeria: School completion was 76.79 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
76.79
Change on year
up 0.4%
World rank
131st
of 165 countries
All-time high
76.79
in 2025
All-time low
60.6
in 1981
Years of data
45
1981–2025
School completion in Nigeria, 1981–2025
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, school completion in Nigeria stood at 76.79. That is the highest value across all 45 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.4% on the previous year and up 4.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school completion in Nigeria peaked at 76.79 in 2025 and was at its lowest, 60.6, in 1981.
That places Nigeria 131st out of 165 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 45 years of available data.
School completion in Nigeria, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 60.6 | — |
| 1982 | 60.97 | +0.6% |
| 1983 | 61.31 | +0.6% |
| 1984 | 61.68 | +0.6% |
| 1985 | 62.08 | +0.6% |
| 1986 | 62.43 | +0.6% |
| 1987 | 62.8 | +0.6% |
| 1988 | 63.21 | +0.7% |
| 1989 | 63.51 | +0.5% |
| 1990 | 63.83 | +0.5% |
| 1991 | 64.15 | +0.5% |
| 1992 | 64.52 | +0.6% |
| 1993 | 64.96 | +0.7% |
| 1994 | 65.54 | +0.9% |
| 1995 | 66.16 | +0.9% |
| 1996 | 66.98 | +1.2% |
| 1997 | 67.84 | +1.3% |
| 1998 | 68.73 | +1.3% |
| 1999 | 69.54 | +1.2% |
| 2000 | 70.32 | +1.1% |
| 2001 | 70.93 | +0.9% |
| 2002 | 71.36 | +0.6% |
| 2003 | 71.77 | +0.6% |
| 2004 | 72.11 | +0.5% |
| 2005 | 72.47 | +0.5% |
| 2006 | 72.81 | +0.5% |
| 2007 | 73.08 | +0.4% |
| 2008 | 73.17 | +0.1% |
| 2009 | 73.15 | -0.0% |
| 2010 | 73.08 | -0.1% |
| 2011 | 72.98 | -0.1% |
| 2012 | 72.97 | -0.0% |
| 2013 | 73.11 | +0.2% |
| 2014 | 73.34 | +0.3% |
| 2015 | 73.62 | +0.4% |
| 2016 | 73.94 | +0.4% |
| 2017 | 74.32 | +0.5% |
| 2018 | 74.69 | +0.5% |
| 2019 | 75.03 | +0.5% |
| 2020 | 75.28 | +0.3% |
| 2021 | 75.59 | +0.4% |
| 2022 | 75.87 | +0.4% |
| 2023 | 76.19 | +0.4% |
| 2024 | 76.47 | +0.4% |
| 2025 | 76.79 | +0.4% |
Nigeria compared with similar countries
- Nigeria's 76.79 is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 86.1, 89% of the median. (45 countries reporting)
- Nigeria's 76.79 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 72.16, 1.1× the median. (45 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 62.07 | 60.6 | 63.51 | 9 |
| 1990s | 66.22 | 63.83 | 69.54 | 10 |
| 2000s | 72.12 | 70.32 | 73.17 | 10 |
| 2010s | 73.71 | 72.97 | 75.03 | 10 |
| 2020s | 76.03 | 75.28 | 76.79 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
More education data for Nigeria
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 74.51 (2023)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 75.68 (2023)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 912,245 (2021)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 1.08 million (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 1.24 million (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 15.20 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 33.42 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 1.18 % change on previous year (2021)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school completion in Nigeria?
- School completion in Nigeria was 76.79 in 2025, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest school completion recorded in Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 76.79 in 2025.
- What is the lowest school completion recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was 60.6 in 1981.
- How does Nigeria rank for school completion?
- Nigeria ranks 131st out of 165 countries with data for 2025.
- Is school completion rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is up 4.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Nigeria 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).