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 12.2% in 2018. ▲ Rising
Share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in in South Africa, 1998–2018
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2018, share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in in South Africa stood at 12.2%. That is the highest value across all 19 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 5.2% on the previous year and up 29.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in in South Africa peaked at 12.2% in 2018 and was at its lowest, 6.9%, in 1998.
South Africa ranks 101st of 158 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 19 years of available data.
Share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in in South Africa, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 6.9% | — |
| 1999 | 7.0% | +1.3% |
| 2000 | 8.9% | +27.6% |
| 2001 | 9.8% | +9.3% |
| 2002 | 10.5% | +7.9% |
| 2003 | 10.1% | -3.9% |
| 2004 | 10.3% | +2.0% |
| 2005 | 8.5% | -17.8% |
| 2006 | 8.8% | +3.6% |
| 2007 | 9.1% | +3.5% |
| 2008 | 9.4% | +3.4% |
| 2009 | 9.7% | +3.2% |
| 2010 | 8.1% | -16.2% |
| 2011 | 8.2% | +0.9% |
| 2012 | 8.9% | +8.1% |
| 2015 | 11.5% | +29.8% |
| 2016 | 12.1% | +5.1% |
| 2017 | 11.6% | -4.5% |
| 2018 | 12.2% | +5.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 7.0% | 6.9% | 7.0% | 2 |
| 2000s | 9.5% | 8.5% | 10.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 10.4% | 8.1% | 12.2% | 7 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
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 12.2% in 2018, 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 12.2% in 2018.
- What is the lowest share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.9% in 1998.
- How does South Africa rank for share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in?
- South Africa ranks 101st out of 158 countries with data for 2018.
- 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 29.5%. 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 (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Total number of students enrolled in vocational programmes at the upper secondary education level, expressed as a percentage of the total number of students enrolled in all programmes (vocational and general) at the upper secondary level. Vocational education is designed for learners to acquire the knowledge, skills and competencies specific to a particular occupation or trade or class of occupations or trades. Vocational education may have work-based components (e.g. apprenticeships). Successful completion of such programmes leads to labour-market relevant vocational qualifications acknowledged as occupationally-oriented by the relevant national authorities and/or the labour market.