Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in South Africa
South Africa: Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school was 18.4% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in South Africa, 1998–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
South Africa recorded 18.4% for share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.5% on the previous year and up 46.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in South Africa peaked at 18.6% in 2019 and was at its lowest, 4.6%, in 1999.
South Africa ranks 162nd of 178 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 10 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 4.9% | 4.6% | 5.1% | 2 |
| 2000s | 7.2% | 7.2% | 7.2% | 1 |
| 2010s | 16.4% | 12.6% | 18.6% | 3 |
| 2020s | 17.1% | 12.9% | 18.6% | 4 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More education data for South Africa
- Duration of pre-primary education 4 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 67.4% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 25.7% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 14 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 7 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 101.8% (2023)
- Primary education, teachers 287,310 (2023)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 2.21 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 99.2% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in South Africa?
- Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in South Africa was 18.4% in 2023, 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 South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 18.6% in 2019.
- What is the lowest share of children enrolled in pre-primary school recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.6% in 1999.
- How does South Africa rank for share of children enrolled in pre-primary school?
- South Africa ranks 162nd out of 178 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of children enrolled in pre-primary school rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 46.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Africa 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
CSV · JSON — 10 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The share of children of pre-primary school age (typically 3–5 years old) who are enrolled in pre-primary education.