Share of population with no formal education in Egypt
Egypt: Share of population with no formal education was 20.8% in 2020. ▼ Falling
Share of population with no formal education in Egypt, 1870–2020
Source: Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Egypt recorded 20.8% for share of population with no formal education in 2020. That is the lowest value across all 31 years on record.
The figure is down 26.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population with no formal education in Egypt peaked at 99.6% in 1870 and was at its lowest, 20.8%, in 2020.
That places Egypt 18th out of 111 countries with data for 2020, putting it 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 Egypt, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1870 | 99.6% | — |
| 1875 | 99.5% | -0.1% |
| 1880 | 99.4% | -0.1% |
| 1885 | 99.1% | -0.3% |
| 1890 | 98.8% | -0.3% |
| 1895 | 98.5% | -0.3% |
| 1900 | 98.0% | -0.5% |
| 1905 | 97.3% | -0.7% |
| 1910 | 96.4% | -0.9% |
| 1915 | 95.3% | -1.1% |
| 1920 | 94.3% | -1.0% |
| 1925 | 93.5% | -0.8% |
| 1930 | 93.6% | +0.1% |
| 1935 | 95.8% | +2.4% |
| 1940 | 95.3% | -0.5% |
| 1945 | 93.7% | -1.7% |
| 1950 | 92.9% | -0.9% |
| 1955 | 90.7% | -2.4% |
| 1960 | 88.6% | -2.3% |
| 1965 | 85.1% | -4.0% |
| 1970 | 81.1% | -4.7% |
| 1975 | 76.7% | -5.4% |
| 1980 | 66.3% | -13.6% |
| 1985 | 54.2% | -18.3% |
| 1990 | 48.8% | -10.0% |
| 1995 | 43.0% | -11.9% |
| 2000 | 36.4% | -15.3% |
| 2005 | 32.0% | -12.1% |
| 2010 | 28.2% | -11.9% |
| 2015 | 24.0% | -14.9% |
| 2020 | 20.8% | -13.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 99.5% | 99.5% | 99.6% | 2 |
| 1880s | 99.2% | 99.1% | 99.4% | 2 |
| 1890s | 98.7% | 98.5% | 98.8% | 2 |
| 1900s | 97.7% | 97.3% | 98.0% | 2 |
| 1910s | 95.8% | 95.3% | 96.4% | 2 |
| 1920s | 93.9% | 93.5% | 94.3% | 2 |
| 1930s | 94.7% | 93.6% | 95.8% | 2 |
| 1940s | 94.5% | 93.7% | 95.3% | 2 |
| 1950s | 91.8% | 90.7% | 92.9% | 2 |
| 1960s | 86.8% | 85.1% | 88.6% | 2 |
| 1970s | 78.9% | 76.7% | 81.1% | 2 |
| 1980s | 60.2% | 54.2% | 66.3% | 2 |
| 1990s | 45.9% | 43.0% | 48.8% | 2 |
| 2000s | 34.2% | 32.0% | 36.4% | 2 |
| 2010s | 26.1% | 24.0% | 28.2% | 2 |
| 2020s | 20.8% | 20.8% | 20.8% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Egypt
More education data for Egypt
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 15.40 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 2.23 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.1322 units per person (2024)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Enrolment in primary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 15.40 million (2024)
- Enrolment in primary education, both sexes (number), annual growth 2.23 % change on previous year (2024)
- Enrolment in primary education, both sexes (number), per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Enrolment in primary education, both sexes (number), per capita 0.1322 units per person (2024)
- Enrolment in primary education, female (number), gaps filled 7.52 million (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population with no formal education in Egypt?
- Share of population with no formal education in Egypt was 20.8% 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 Egypt?
- The highest recorded value was 99.6% in 1870.
- What is the lowest share of population with no formal education recorded in Egypt?
- The lowest recorded value was 20.8% in 2020.
- How does Egypt rank for share of population with no formal education?
- Egypt ranks 18th out of 111 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of population with no formal education rising or falling in Egypt?
- Over the last ten years it is down 26.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Egypt 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.