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 1.13 GPIA in 2023. ▲ Rising
Share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in in South Africa, 1998–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in GPIA.
Analysis
South Africa recorded 1.13 GPIA for share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in in 2023.
The figure is down 3.9% on the previous year and up 61.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in in South Africa peaked at 1.18 GPIA in 2022 and was at its lowest, 0.5936 GPIA, in 2005.
That places South Africa 14th out of 160 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 24 years of available data.
Share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in in South Africa, year by year
| Year | GPIA | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 0.6685 GPIA | — |
| 1999 | 0.6754 GPIA | +1.0% |
| 2000 | 0.6363 GPIA | -5.8% |
| 2001 | 0.6436 GPIA | +1.1% |
| 2002 | 0.6084 GPIA | -5.5% |
| 2003 | 0.6218 GPIA | +2.2% |
| 2004 | 0.619 GPIA | -0.5% |
| 2005 | 0.5936 GPIA | -4.1% |
| 2006 | 0.6146 GPIA | +3.5% |
| 2007 | 0.6377 GPIA | +3.7% |
| 2008 | 0.6662 GPIA | +4.5% |
| 2009 | 0.6909 GPIA | +3.7% |
| 2010 | 0.7585 GPIA | +9.8% |
| 2011 | 0.7532 GPIA | -0.7% |
| 2012 | 0.7022 GPIA | -6.8% |
| 2015 | 0.9808 GPIA | +39.7% |
| 2016 | 0.8924 GPIA | -9.0% |
| 2017 | 0.8558 GPIA | -4.1% |
| 2018 | 0.868 GPIA | +1.4% |
| 2019 | 0.95 GPIA | +9.4% |
| 2020 | 1.04 GPIA | +9.7% |
| 2021 | 1.1 GPIA | +5.2% |
| 2022 | 1.18 GPIA | +7.3% |
| 2023 | 1.13 GPIA | -3.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.6719 GPIA | 0.6685 GPIA | 0.6754 GPIA | 2 |
| 2000s | 0.6332 GPIA | 0.5936 GPIA | 0.6909 GPIA | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.8451 GPIA | 0.7022 GPIA | 0.9808 GPIA | 8 |
| 2020s | 1.11 GPIA | 1.04 GPIA | 1.18 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 upper secondary education enrolled in in South Africa?
- Share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in in South Africa was 1.13 GPIA 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 1.18 GPIA in 2022.
- What is the lowest share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.5936 GPIA in 2005.
- How does South Africa rank for share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in?
- South Africa ranks 14th out of 160 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 up 61.0%. 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 upper secondary education enrolled in vocational programmes, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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