Educational attainment, at least completed upper secondary, population 25+, total (%) (cumulative) - Country Ranking - Africa

Definition: The percentage of population ages 25 and over that attained or completed upper secondary education.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (http://uis.unesco.org/)

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 South Africa 69.70 2019
2 Egypt 67.16 2017
3 Seychelles 46.04 2002
4 Nigeria 44.86 2006
5 Mauritius 43.58 2011
6 São Tomé and Principe 38.86 2012
7 Dem. Rep. Congo 27.26 2016
8 Algeria 25.42 2008
9 The Gambia 22.74 2015
10 Kenya 22.03 2010
11 Ghana 20.56 2010
12 Cabo Verde 20.04 2015
13 Cameroon 18.17 2010
14 Namibia 17.55 2001
15 Zambia 15.92 1990
16 Angola 15.86 2014
17 Côte d'Ivoire 14.18 2014
18 Lesotho 13.81 2008
19 Zimbabwe 12.26 2017
20 Sierra Leone 12.13 2004
21 Libya 11.20 1984
22 Senegal 10.86 2017
23 Uganda 9.87 2012
24 Rwanda 9.86 2018
25 Madagascar 9.71 2018
26 Eswatini 9.65 1986
27 Mauritania 9.47 2013
28 Togo 9.26 2011
29 Ethiopia 8.84 2011
30 Congo 8.77 1984
31 Mozambique 8.69 2017
32 Guinea 7.39 2018
33 Burkina Faso 6.15 2018
34 Burundi 5.60 2017
35 Liberia 5.50 1974
36 Mali 5.41 2020
37 Malawi 5.21 1998
38 Chad 5.10 2009
39 Tanzania 3.40 2012
40 Niger 3.28 2012
41 Tunisia 2.84 1984
42 Sudan 2.80 1983
43 Central African Republic 1.64 1975
44 Botswana 1.28 1971
45 Benin 1.10 1979

More rankings: Africa | Asia | Central America & the Caribbean | Europe | Middle East | North America | Oceania | South America | World |

Development Relevance: A relative high concentration of the adult population in a given level of education reflects the capacity of the educational system in the corresponding level of education. Educational attainment is closely related to the skills and competencies of a country's population, and could be seen as a proxy of both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the stock of human capital.

Limitations and Exceptions: Caution is required when using this indicator for cross-country comparison, since the countries do not always classify degrees and qualifications at the same International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) levels, even if they are received at roughly the same age or after a similar number of years of schooling. Also, certain educational programmes and study courses cannot be easily classified according to ISCED. This indicator only measures educational attainment in terms of level of education attained, i.e. years of schooling, and do not necessarily reveal the quality of the education (learning achievement and other impacts).

Statistical Concept and Methodology: It is calculated by dividing the number of population ages 25 and older who attained or completed upper secondary education by the total population of the same age group and multiplying by 100. The number 0 means zero or small enough that the number would round to zero. Data are collected by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics mainly from national population census, household survey, and labour force survey. All the data are mapped to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) to ensure the comparability of education programs at the international level. The current version was formally adopted by UNESCO Member States in 2011.

Periodicity: Annual