Share of population with no formal education in Bangladesh
Bangladesh: Share of population with no formal education was 21.9% in 2020. ▼ Falling
Share of population with no formal education in Bangladesh, 1870–2020
Source: Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2020, share of population with no formal education in Bangladesh stood at 21.9%. That is the lowest value across all 31 years on record.
That represents a change of down 28.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population with no formal education in Bangladesh peaked at 99.8% in 1870 and was at its lowest, 21.9%, in 2020.
Bangladesh ranks 17th of 111 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 31 years of available data.
Share of population with no formal education in Bangladesh, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1870 | 99.8% | — |
| 1875 | 99.7% | -0.1% |
| 1880 | 99.6% | -0.1% |
| 1885 | 99.5% | -0.1% |
| 1890 | 99.4% | -0.1% |
| 1895 | 99.2% | -0.2% |
| 1900 | 98.9% | -0.3% |
| 1905 | 95.4% | -3.5% |
| 1910 | 92.1% | -3.5% |
| 1915 | 89.7% | -2.6% |
| 1920 | 89.4% | -0.3% |
| 1925 | 87.5% | -2.1% |
| 1930 | 85.5% | -2.3% |
| 1935 | 83.7% | -2.1% |
| 1940 | 81.7% | -2.4% |
| 1945 | 79.8% | -2.3% |
| 1950 | 78.2% | -2.0% |
| 1955 | 78.0% | -0.3% |
| 1960 | 77.1% | -1.2% |
| 1965 | 77.5% | +0.5% |
| 1970 | 77.8% | +0.4% |
| 1975 | 76.7% | -1.4% |
| 1980 | 66.1% | -13.8% |
| 1985 | 58.7% | -11.2% |
| 1990 | 55.3% | -5.8% |
| 1995 | 50.5% | -8.7% |
| 2000 | 42.6% | -15.6% |
| 2005 | 37.6% | -11.7% |
| 2010 | 30.4% | -19.1% |
| 2015 | 25.9% | -14.8% |
| 2020 | 21.9% | -15.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 99.8% | 99.7% | 99.8% | 2 |
| 1880s | 99.5% | 99.5% | 99.6% | 2 |
| 1890s | 99.3% | 99.2% | 99.4% | 2 |
| 1900s | 97.2% | 95.4% | 98.9% | 2 |
| 1910s | 90.9% | 89.7% | 92.1% | 2 |
| 1920s | 88.5% | 87.5% | 89.4% | 2 |
| 1930s | 84.6% | 83.7% | 85.5% | 2 |
| 1940s | 80.8% | 79.8% | 81.7% | 2 |
| 1950s | 78.1% | 78.0% | 78.2% | 2 |
| 1960s | 77.3% | 77.1% | 77.5% | 2 |
| 1970s | 77.2% | 76.7% | 77.8% | 2 |
| 1980s | 62.4% | 58.7% | 66.1% | 2 |
| 1990s | 52.9% | 50.5% | 55.3% | 2 |
| 2000s | 40.1% | 37.6% | 42.6% | 2 |
| 2010s | 28.1% | 25.9% | 30.4% | 2 |
| 2020s | 21.9% | 21.9% | 21.9% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Bangladesh
More education data for Bangladesh
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 387,056 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 1.73 million (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 1.77 million (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 15.07 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 16.69 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 2.67 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0961 units per person (2024)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population with no formal education in Bangladesh?
- Share of population with no formal education in Bangladesh was 21.9% in 2020, according to Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of population with no formal education recorded in Bangladesh?
- The highest recorded value was 99.8% in 1870.
- What is the lowest share of population with no formal education recorded in Bangladesh?
- The lowest recorded value was 21.9% in 2020.
- How does Bangladesh rank for share of population with no formal education?
- Bangladesh ranks 17th out of 111 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of population with no formal education rising or falling in Bangladesh?
- Over the last ten years it is down 28.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Bangladesh data come from?
- The figures come from Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of population with no formal education. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 31 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The share of adults aged between 15 and 64 years old with no formal education.