Share of children who have completed primary school in Turkey
Turkey: Share of children who have completed primary school was 98.0% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of children who have completed primary school in Turkey, 1981–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Turkey recorded 98.0% for share of children who have completed primary school in 2025. That is the highest value across all 45 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.2% on the previous year and up 2.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who have completed primary school in Turkey peaked at 98.0% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 83.5%, in 1981.
That places Turkey 80th 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.
Share of children who have completed primary school in Turkey, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 83.5% | — |
| 1982 | 83.6% | +0.2% |
| 1983 | 83.8% | +0.3% |
| 1984 | 84.0% | +0.3% |
| 1985 | 84.3% | +0.3% |
| 1986 | 84.7% | +0.5% |
| 1987 | 85.1% | +0.5% |
| 1988 | 85.5% | +0.5% |
| 1989 | 85.8% | +0.4% |
| 1990 | 86.1% | +0.4% |
| 1991 | 86.3% | +0.3% |
| 1992 | 86.3% | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 86.2% | -0.2% |
| 1994 | 85.9% | -0.3% |
| 1995 | 85.5% | -0.5% |
| 1996 | 84.9% | -0.6% |
| 1997 | 84.4% | -0.6% |
| 1998 | 84.0% | -0.4% |
| 1999 | 83.9% | -0.1% |
| 2000 | 84.1% | +0.2% |
| 2001 | 84.6% | +0.6% |
| 2002 | 85.4% | +0.9% |
| 2003 | 86.5% | +1.2% |
| 2004 | 87.6% | +1.3% |
| 2005 | 88.8% | +1.4% |
| 2006 | 90.1% | +1.4% |
| 2007 | 91.2% | +1.3% |
| 2008 | 92.3% | +1.2% |
| 2009 | 93.2% | +1.0% |
| 2010 | 93.9% | +0.7% |
| 2011 | 94.3% | +0.5% |
| 2012 | 94.7% | +0.4% |
| 2013 | 95.0% | +0.4% |
| 2014 | 95.3% | +0.3% |
| 2015 | 95.6% | +0.3% |
| 2016 | 96.0% | +0.4% |
| 2017 | 96.3% | +0.3% |
| 2018 | 96.6% | +0.4% |
| 2019 | 96.9% | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 97.2% | +0.3% |
| 2021 | 97.4% | +0.2% |
| 2022 | 97.6% | +0.2% |
| 2023 | 97.7% | +0.2% |
| 2024 | 97.9% | +0.2% |
| 2025 | 98.0% | +0.2% |
Turkey compared with similar countries
- Turkey's 98.0% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 98.7%, 99% of the median. (50 countries reporting)
- Turkey's 98.0% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 99.6%, 98% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 84.5% | 83.5% | 85.8% | 9 |
| 1990s | 85.4% | 83.9% | 86.3% | 10 |
| 2000s | 88.4% | 84.1% | 93.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 95.5% | 93.9% | 96.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 97.6% | 97.2% | 98.0% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Turkey
More education data for Turkey
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 788,294 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 184,302 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 1.05 million (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 980,973 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 12.31 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 5.54 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 1.87 % change on previous year (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0649 units per person (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children who have completed primary school in Turkey?
- Share of children who have completed primary school in Turkey was 98.0% 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 Turkey?
- The highest recorded value was 98.0% in 2025.
- What is the lowest share of children who have completed primary school recorded in Turkey?
- The lowest recorded value was 83.5% in 1981.
- How does Turkey rank for share of children who have completed primary school?
- Turkey ranks 80th out of 165 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of children who have completed primary school rising or falling in Turkey?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Turkey 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.
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About this data
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.