Share of the world population with at least basic education in United States of America
United States of America: Share of the world population with at least basic education was 0.8943 in 2020. ▼ Falling
Share of the world population with at least basic education in United States of America, 1950–2020
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
United States of America recorded 0.8943 for share of the world population with at least basic education in 2020. That is the lowest value across all 15 years on record.
That represents a change of down 20.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the world population with at least basic education in United States of America peaked at 4.17 in 1950 and was at its lowest, 0.8943, in 2020.
United States of America ranks 15th of 25 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 15 years of available data.
Share of the world population with at least basic education in United States of America, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 4.17 | — |
| 1955 | 3.56 | -14.5% |
| 1960 | 3.03 | -14.9% |
| 1965 | 2.59 | -14.6% |
| 1970 | 2.26 | -12.7% |
| 1975 | 2.01 | -10.9% |
| 1980 | 1.82 | -9.4% |
| 1985 | 1.69 | -7.4% |
| 1990 | 1.58 | -6.7% |
| 1995 | 1.47 | -6.5% |
| 2000 | 1.37 | -7.2% |
| 2005 | 1.25 | -8.3% |
| 2010 | 1.12 | -10.8% |
| 2015 | 0.9838 | -12.0% |
| 2020 | 0.8943 | -9.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 3.86 | 3.56 | 4.17 | 2 |
| 1960s | 2.81 | 2.59 | 3.03 | 2 |
| 1970s | 2.14 | 2.01 | 2.26 | 2 |
| 1980s | 1.76 | 1.69 | 1.82 | 2 |
| 1990s | 1.52 | 1.47 | 1.58 | 2 |
| 2000s | 1.31 | 1.25 | 1.37 | 2 |
| 2010s | 1.05 | 0.9838 | 1.12 | 2 |
| 2020s | 0.8943 | 0.8943 | 0.8943 | 1 |
Countries ranked near United States of America
More education data for United States of America
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 1.78 million (2023)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 64.5% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 17.1% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- Primary secondary enrollment completion rates, gaps filled 96.97 (2022)
- School enrollment, primary 97.0% (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the world population with at least basic education in United States of America?
- Share of the world population with at least basic education in United States of America was 0.8943 in 2020, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of the world population with at least basic education recorded in United States of America?
- The highest recorded value was 4.17 in 1950.
- What is the lowest share of the world population with at least basic education recorded in United States of America?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.8943 in 2020.
- How does United States of America rank for share of the world population with at least basic education?
- United States of America ranks 15th out of 25 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of the world population with at least basic education rising or falling in United States of America?
- Over the last ten years it is down 20.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this United States of America data come from?
- The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Share of the world population with at least basic education. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 15 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).