Share of all students in secondary education enrolled in vocational in South Africa
South Africa: Share of all students in secondary education enrolled in vocational was 1.19 GPIA in 2023. ▲ Rising
Share of all students in secondary education enrolled in vocational in South Africa, 1989–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in GPIA.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of all students in secondary education enrolled in vocational in South Africa is 1.19 GPIA, measured in 2023.
That represents a change of down 3.2% on the previous year and up 60.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of all students in secondary education enrolled in vocational in South Africa peaked at 1.23 GPIA in 2022 and was at its lowest, 0.5213 GPIA, in 1989.
That places South Africa 15th out of 198 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 29 years of available data.
Share of all students in secondary education enrolled in vocational in South Africa, year by year
| Year | GPIA | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 0.5213 GPIA | — |
| 1990 | 0.5393 GPIA | +3.5% |
| 1991 | 0.522 GPIA | -3.2% |
| 1994 | 0.5956 GPIA | +14.1% |
| 1998 | 0.6952 GPIA | +16.7% |
| 1999 | 0.7 GPIA | +0.7% |
| 2000 | 0.6576 GPIA | -6.1% |
| 2001 | 0.6634 GPIA | +0.9% |
| 2002 | 0.6231 GPIA | -6.1% |
| 2003 | 0.6283 GPIA | +0.8% |
| 2004 | 0.627 GPIA | -0.2% |
| 2005 | 0.6073 GPIA | -3.1% |
| 2006 | 0.6322 GPIA | +4.1% |
| 2007 | 0.6617 GPIA | +4.7% |
| 2008 | 0.6904 GPIA | +4.3% |
| 2009 | 0.7093 GPIA | +2.7% |
| 2010 | 0.7852 GPIA | +10.7% |
| 2011 | 0.7861 GPIA | +0.1% |
| 2012 | 0.7377 GPIA | -6.2% |
| 2014 | 0.8132 GPIA | +10.2% |
| 2015 | 0.9665 GPIA | +18.8% |
| 2016 | 0.9134 GPIA | -5.5% |
| 2017 | 0.8799 GPIA | -3.7% |
| 2018 | 0.8873 GPIA | +0.8% |
| 2019 | 0.9853 GPIA | +11.0% |
| 2020 | 1.1 GPIA | +11.4% |
| 2021 | 1.15 GPIA | +4.7% |
| 2022 | 1.23 GPIA | +6.6% |
| 2023 | 1.19 GPIA | -3.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.5213 GPIA | 0.5213 GPIA | 0.5213 GPIA | 1 |
| 1990s | 0.6104 GPIA | 0.522 GPIA | 0.7 GPIA | 5 |
| 2000s | 0.6501 GPIA | 0.6073 GPIA | 0.7093 GPIA | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.8616 GPIA | 0.7377 GPIA | 0.9853 GPIA | 9 |
| 2020s | 1.16 GPIA | 1.1 GPIA | 1.23 GPIA | 4 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More education data for South Africa
- 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)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.119 units per person (2023)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of all students in secondary education enrolled in vocational in South Africa?
- Share of all students in secondary education enrolled in vocational in South Africa was 1.19 GPIA in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest share of all students in secondary education enrolled in vocational recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 1.23 GPIA in 2022.
- What is the lowest share of all students in secondary education enrolled in vocational recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.5213 GPIA in 1989.
- How does South Africa rank for share of all students in secondary education enrolled in vocational?
- South Africa ranks 15th out of 198 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of all students in secondary education enrolled in vocational rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 60.7%. 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, published as part of Share of all students in secondary education enrolled in vocational programmes, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 29 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release