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 8.2% 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 8.2% for share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in in 2023.
That represents a change of up 11.0% on the previous year and down 21.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in in South Africa peaked at 13.2% in 2002 and was at its lowest, 7.4%, in 2022.
South Africa ranks 127th of 168 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
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 | 8.4% | — |
| 1999 | 8.5% | +0.7% |
| 2000 | 11.1% | +30.6% |
| 2001 | 12.0% | +8.7% |
| 2002 | 13.2% | +10.1% |
| 2003 | 12.6% | -4.9% |
| 2004 | 12.9% | +2.3% |
| 2005 | 10.8% | -16.4% |
| 2006 | 11.0% | +2.2% |
| 2007 | 11.2% | +2.0% |
| 2008 | 11.4% | +1.4% |
| 2009 | 11.6% | +1.6% |
| 2010 | 9.3% | -19.4% |
| 2011 | 9.4% | +1.3% |
| 2012 | 10.5% | +11.6% |
| 2015 | 11.6% | +10.6% |
| 2016 | 12.8% | +10.4% |
| 2017 | 12.5% | -2.5% |
| 2018 | 13.1% | +4.4% |
| 2019 | 12.2% | -6.9% |
| 2020 | 9.5% | -21.9% |
| 2021 | 9.2% | -3.1% |
| 2022 | 7.4% | -19.4% |
| 2023 | 8.2% | +11.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 8.4% | 8.4% | 8.5% | 2 |
| 2000s | 11.8% | 10.8% | 13.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 11.4% | 9.3% | 13.1% | 8 |
| 2020s | 8.6% | 7.4% | 9.5% | 4 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More education data for South Africa
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 181,739 (2023)
- 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)
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 8.2% 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 13.2% in 2002.
- What is the lowest share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.4% in 2022.
- How does South Africa rank for share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in?
- South Africa ranks 127th out of 168 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 21.7%. 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 vocational programmes, male (%). 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