Share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in in South Africa
South Africa: Share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in was 90.5% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in in South Africa, 1998–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
South Africa recorded 90.5% for share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in in 2023.
The figure is down 0.5% on the previous year and down 2.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in in South Africa peaked at 94.4% in 1998 and was at its lowest, 88.4%, in 2019.
That places South Africa 83rd out of 188 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.
Share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in in South Africa, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 94.4% | — |
| 1999 | 94.3% | -0.1% |
| 2000 | 93.0% | -1.4% |
| 2001 | 92.3% | -0.8% |
| 2002 | 91.9% | -0.3% |
| 2003 | 92.2% | +0.2% |
| 2004 | 92.0% | -0.2% |
| 2005 | 93.6% | +1.7% |
| 2006 | 93.2% | -0.4% |
| 2007 | 92.8% | -0.4% |
| 2008 | 92.4% | -0.5% |
| 2009 | 92.0% | -0.4% |
| 2010 | 92.9% | +1.0% |
| 2011 | 92.9% | -0.0% |
| 2012 | 92.6% | -0.3% |
| 2015 | 88.6% | -4.3% |
| 2016 | 88.5% | -0.1% |
| 2017 | 89.3% | +0.8% |
| 2018 | 88.6% | -0.7% |
| 2019 | 88.4% | -0.2% |
| 2020 | 90.1% | +1.9% |
| 2021 | 89.8% | -0.3% |
| 2022 | 91.0% | +1.3% |
| 2023 | 90.5% | -0.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 94.3% | 94.3% | 94.4% | 2 |
| 2000s | 92.6% | 91.9% | 93.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 90.2% | 88.4% | 92.9% | 8 |
| 2020s | 90.4% | 89.8% | 91.0% | 4 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
- 80 Côte d'Ivoire 91.3% compare
- 81 San Marino 91.0% compare
- 82 Malaysia 91.0% compare
- 84 Uzbekistan 90.2% compare
- 85 Cyprus 90.2% compare
- 86 Central African Republic 90.1% compare
More education data for South Africa
- 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)
- Enrolment in primary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 7.52 million (2023)
- Enrolment in primary education, both sexes (number), annual growth -1.44 % change on previous year (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in in South Africa?
- Share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in in South Africa was 90.5% in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 94.4% in 1998.
- What is the lowest share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 88.4% in 2019.
- How does South Africa rank for share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in?
- South Africa ranks 83rd out of 188 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 2.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- 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 upper secondary education enrolled in general programmes, female (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release