Share of children who have completed primary school in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone: Share of children who have completed primary school was 68.8% in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Share of children who have completed primary school in Sierra Leone, 1981–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Sierra Leone recorded 68.8% for share of children who have completed primary school in 2025. That is the highest value across all 45 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.2% on the previous year and up 15.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who have completed primary school in Sierra Leone peaked at 68.8% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 17.0%, in 1992.
Sierra Leone ranks 142nd of 165 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 19.7% | 17.9% | 20.9% | 9 |
| 1990s | 18.4% | 17.0% | 22.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | 35.6% | 23.7% | 49.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 58.8% | 51.7% | 64.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 66.9% | 65.0% | 68.8% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sierra Leone
More education data for Sierra Leone
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 59.1% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 37.7% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 162.1% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 46,575 (2024)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 3.7 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 166.3% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children who have completed primary school in Sierra Leone?
- Share of children who have completed primary school in Sierra Leone was 68.8% in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of children who have completed primary school recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The highest recorded value was 68.8% in 2025.
- What is the lowest share of children who have completed primary school recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The lowest recorded value was 17.0% in 1992.
- How does Sierra Leone rank for share of children who have completed primary school?
- Sierra Leone ranks 142nd out of 165 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of children who have completed primary school rising or falling in Sierra Leone?
- Over the last ten years it is up 15.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Sierra Leone data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of children who have completed primary school. 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).
About this data
The share of children who are three to five years older than the official age for the last grade of primary education who have successfully completed it. This broader age band is used to include children who started school late or had to resit particular years.