Share of population with no formal education in India
India: Share of population with no formal education was 20.6% in 2020. ▼ Falling
Share of population with no formal education in India, 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 India stood at 20.6%. That is the lowest value across all 31 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 31.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population with no formal education in India peaked at 99.6% in 1870 and was at its lowest, 20.6%, in 2020.
India ranks 19th 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 India, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1870 | 99.6% | — |
| 1875 | 99.5% | -0.1% |
| 1880 | 99.3% | -0.2% |
| 1885 | 98.9% | -0.4% |
| 1890 | 98.2% | -0.7% |
| 1895 | 97.4% | -0.8% |
| 1900 | 96.6% | -0.8% |
| 1905 | 94.3% | -2.4% |
| 1910 | 92.0% | -2.4% |
| 1915 | 89.8% | -2.4% |
| 1920 | 85.9% | -4.3% |
| 1925 | 83.6% | -2.7% |
| 1930 | 81.1% | -3.0% |
| 1935 | 79.2% | -2.3% |
| 1940 | 77.5% | -2.1% |
| 1945 | 75.7% | -2.3% |
| 1950 | 74.4% | -1.7% |
| 1955 | 73.0% | -1.9% |
| 1960 | 71.4% | -2.2% |
| 1965 | 70.3% | -1.5% |
| 1970 | 65.6% | -6.7% |
| 1975 | 64.9% | -1.1% |
| 1980 | 64.9% | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 56.9% | -12.3% |
| 1990 | 50.1% | -12.0% |
| 1995 | 45.8% | -8.6% |
| 2000 | 41.7% | -9.0% |
| 2005 | 35.0% | -16.1% |
| 2010 | 30.1% | -14.0% |
| 2015 | 24.9% | -17.3% |
| 2020 | 20.6% | -17.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 99.5% | 99.5% | 99.6% | 2 |
| 1880s | 99.1% | 98.9% | 99.3% | 2 |
| 1890s | 97.8% | 97.4% | 98.2% | 2 |
| 1900s | 95.4% | 94.3% | 96.6% | 2 |
| 1910s | 90.9% | 89.8% | 92.0% | 2 |
| 1920s | 84.8% | 83.6% | 85.9% | 2 |
| 1930s | 80.2% | 79.2% | 81.1% | 2 |
| 1940s | 76.6% | 75.7% | 77.5% | 2 |
| 1950s | 73.7% | 73.0% | 74.4% | 2 |
| 1960s | 70.8% | 70.3% | 71.4% | 2 |
| 1970s | 65.2% | 64.9% | 65.6% | 2 |
| 1980s | 60.9% | 56.9% | 64.9% | 2 |
| 1990s | 48.0% | 45.8% | 50.1% | 2 |
| 2000s | 38.4% | 35.0% | 41.7% | 2 |
| 2010s | 27.5% | 24.9% | 30.1% | 2 |
| 2020s | 20.6% | 20.6% | 20.6% | 1 |
Countries ranked near India
More education data for India
- Enrolment in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 133.16 million (2025)
- Enrolment in secondary education, both sexes (number), annual growth 1.25 % change on previous year (2025)
- Teachers in primary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 5.19 million (2025)
- Teachers in primary education, both sexes (number), annual growth rate 3.38 % change on previous year (2025)
- Enrolment in secondary education, female (number), gaps filled 64.76 million (2025)
- Enrolment in secondary education, female (number), annual growth rate 2.25 % change on previous year (2025)
- Enrolment in secondary education, male (number), gaps filled 68.40 million (2025)
- Enrolment in secondary education, male (number), annual growth rate 0.3178 % change on previous year (2025)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 37.89 million (2025)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, both sexes (number), annual 0.2585 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population with no formal education in India?
- Share of population with no formal education in India was 20.6% 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 India?
- The highest recorded value was 99.6% in 1870.
- What is the lowest share of population with no formal education recorded in India?
- The lowest recorded value was 20.6% in 2020.
- How does India rank for share of population with no formal education?
- India ranks 19th out of 111 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of population with no formal education rising or falling in India?
- Over the last ten years it is down 31.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this India 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.