School completion in South Africa
South Africa: School completion was 97.11 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
97.11
Change on year
up 0.2%
World rank
86th
of 165 countries
All-time high
97.11
in 2025
All-time low
68.42
in 1981
Years of data
45
1981–2025
School completion in South Africa, 1981–2025
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
South Africa recorded 97.11 for school completion in 2025. That is the highest value across all 45 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.2% on the previous year and up 2.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school completion in South Africa peaked at 97.11 in 2025 and was at its lowest, 68.42, in 1981.
That places South Africa 86th 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 South Africa, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 68.42 | — |
| 1982 | 69.64 | +1.8% |
| 1983 | 71.04 | +2.0% |
| 1984 | 72.42 | +1.9% |
| 1985 | 73.75 | +1.8% |
| 1986 | 74.98 | +1.7% |
| 1987 | 76.25 | +1.7% |
| 1988 | 77.52 | +1.7% |
| 1989 | 78.74 | +1.6% |
| 1990 | 79.85 | +1.4% |
| 1991 | 80.84 | +1.2% |
| 1992 | 81.73 | +1.1% |
| 1993 | 82.54 | +1.0% |
| 1994 | 83.39 | +1.0% |
| 1995 | 84.15 | +0.9% |
| 1996 | 84.87 | +0.9% |
| 1997 | 85.56 | +0.8% |
| 1998 | 86.14 | +0.7% |
| 1999 | 86.63 | +0.6% |
| 2000 | 87.16 | +0.6% |
| 2001 | 87.63 | +0.5% |
| 2002 | 88.11 | +0.5% |
| 2003 | 88.6 | +0.6% |
| 2004 | 89.23 | +0.7% |
| 2005 | 89.85 | +0.7% |
| 2006 | 90.5 | +0.7% |
| 2007 | 91.15 | +0.7% |
| 2008 | 91.73 | +0.6% |
| 2009 | 92.13 | +0.4% |
| 2010 | 92.43 | +0.3% |
| 2011 | 92.66 | +0.2% |
| 2012 | 93.01 | +0.4% |
| 2013 | 93.43 | +0.5% |
| 2014 | 93.9 | +0.5% |
| 2015 | 94.35 | +0.5% |
| 2016 | 94.69 | +0.4% |
| 2017 | 95.02 | +0.3% |
| 2018 | 95.3 | +0.3% |
| 2019 | 95.6 | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 95.88 | +0.3% |
| 2021 | 96.15 | +0.3% |
| 2022 | 96.41 | +0.3% |
| 2023 | 96.66 | +0.3% |
| 2024 | 96.88 | +0.2% |
| 2025 | 97.11 | +0.2% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 97.11 is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 98.69, 98% of the median. (50 countries reporting)
- South Africa's 97.11 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 72.16, 1.3× the median. (45 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 73.64 | 68.42 | 78.74 | 9 |
| 1990s | 83.57 | 79.85 | 86.63 | 10 |
| 2000s | 89.61 | 87.16 | 92.13 | 10 |
| 2010s | 94.04 | 92.43 | 95.6 | 10 |
| 2020s | 96.52 | 95.88 | 97.11 | 6 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More education data for South Africa
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 94.05 (2023)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 93.94 (2023)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 181,739 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 339,638 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 410,708 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 407,696 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 5.50 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 7.52 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -1.44 % change on previous year (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school completion in South Africa?
- School completion in South Africa was 97.11 in 2025, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest school completion recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 97.11 in 2025.
- What is the lowest school completion recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 68.42 in 1981.
- How does South Africa rank for school completion?
- South Africa ranks 86th out of 165 countries with data for 2025.
- Is school completion rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Africa 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).