Start month of the academic school year in South Africa
South Africa: Start month of the academic school year was 1 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
1
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
188th
of 221 countries
All-time high
2
in 2021
All-time low
1
in 1997
Years of data
29
1997–2025
Start month of the academic school year in South Africa, 1997–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Analysis
South Africa recorded 1 for start month of the academic school year in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 29 years on record.
The figure is unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, start month of the academic school year in South Africa peaked at 2 in 2021 and was at its lowest, 1, in 1997.
South Africa ranks 188th of 221 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 29 years of available data.
Start month of the academic school year in South Africa, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 1 | — |
| 1998 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 2 | +100.0% |
| 2022 | 1 | -50.0% |
| 2023 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 1 | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2000s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2010s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.17 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
- 188 Australia 1 compare
- 188 Bangladesh 1 compare
- 188 Brunei Darussalam 1 compare
- 188 Botswana 1 compare
- 188 Cook Islands 1 compare
- 188 Fiji 1 compare
- 188 Guatemala 1 compare
- 188 Honduras 1 compare
- 188 Kenya 1 compare
- 188 Kiribati 1 compare
- 188 Sri Lanka 1 compare
- 188 Maldives 1 compare
- 188 Mozambique 1 compare
- 188 Mauritius 1 compare
- 188 Malawi 1 compare
- 188 Malaysia 1 compare
- 188 Namibia 1 compare
- 188 Nicaragua 1 compare
- 188 Niue 1 compare
- 188 Naoero 1 compare
- 188 New Zealand 1 compare
- 188 Papua New Guinea 1 compare
- 188 Rwanda 1 compare
- 188 Singapore 1 compare
- 188 Solomon Islands 1 compare
- 188 El Salvador 1 compare
- 188 Eswatini 1 compare
- 188 Seychelles 1 compare
- 188 Tokelau 1 compare
- 188 Tuvalu 1 compare
- 188 Tanzania, United Republic of 1 compare
- 188 Zambia 1 compare
- 188 Zimbabwe 1 compare
More education data for South Africa
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 181,739 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 339,638 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 410,708 (2023)
- 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)
Frequently asked questions
- What is start month of the academic school year in South Africa?
- Start month of the academic school year in South Africa was 1 in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest start month of the academic school year recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 2 in 2021.
- What is the lowest start month of the academic school year recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 1 in 1997.
- How does South Africa rank for start month of the academic school year?
- South Africa ranks 188th out of 221 countries with data for 2025.
- Is start month of the academic school year rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. 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 Start month of the academic school year (pre-primary to post-secondary non-tertiary education). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 29 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release