Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in Australia
Australia: Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school was 85.8% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in Australia, 2001–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Australia recorded 85.8% for share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in 2024. That is the highest value across all 22 years on record.
The figure is up 2.1% on the previous year and up 76.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in Australia peaked at 85.8% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 30.1%, in 2010.
That places Australia 48th out of 178 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 22 years of available data.
Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in Australia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 37.0% | — |
| 2002 | 35.2% | -4.7% |
| 2003 | 41.1% | +16.7% |
| 2004 | 41.6% | +1.3% |
| 2005 | 40.3% | -3.2% |
| 2006 | 40.0% | -0.7% |
| 2007 | 31.7% | -20.9% |
| 2008 | 31.6% | -0.0% |
| 2009 | 31.0% | -1.9% |
| 2010 | 30.1% | -3.0% |
| 2013 | 46.9% | +55.8% |
| 2014 | 48.8% | +4.0% |
| 2015 | 53.7% | +10.2% |
| 2016 | 73.7% | +37.1% |
| 2017 | 72.2% | -2.0% |
| 2018 | 72.7% | +0.7% |
| 2019 | 72.8% | +0.1% |
| 2020 | 72.2% | -0.8% |
| 2021 | 76.4% | +5.8% |
| 2022 | 82.6% | +8.2% |
| 2023 | 84.0% | +1.7% |
| 2024 | 85.8% | +2.1% |
Australia compared with similar countries
- Australia's 85.8% is below the median for high income countries, which is 87.1%, 99% of the median. (68 countries reporting)
- Australia's 85.8% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 68.1%, 1.3× the median. (28 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in Australia changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | +55.8% | 30.1% | 46.9% |
| 2016 | +37.1% | 53.7% | 73.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 36.6% | 31.0% | 41.6% | 9 |
| 2010s | 58.8% | 30.1% | 73.7% | 8 |
| 2020s | 80.2% | 72.2% | 85.8% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Australia
- 45 Cayman Islands 87.0% compare
- 46 Cook Islands 86.1% compare
- 47 Austria 86.0% compare
- 49 Czechia 85.3% compare
- 50 Dominica 83.9% compare
- 51 New Zealand 83.8% compare
More education data for Australia
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 104,110 (1992)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 316,638 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 292,593 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.65 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.27 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 0.4362 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0835 units per person (2024)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in Australia?
- Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in Australia was 85.8% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of children enrolled in pre-primary school recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 85.8% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of children enrolled in pre-primary school recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 30.1% in 2010.
- How does Australia rank for share of children enrolled in pre-primary school?
- Australia ranks 48th out of 178 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of children enrolled in pre-primary school rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 76.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Australia 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 enrolled in pre-primary school. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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About this data
Share of children of pre-primary school age (typically 3–5 years old) who are enrolled in pre-primary education.