South Africa's adult literacy rose from 76.2 % in 1980 to 91.2 % in 2024.
South Africa's school enrolment, primary (% gross) fell from 103.9 % in 1991 to 101.8 % in 2023.
South Africa · Education
Literacy, enrolment, attainment and spending.
16 indicators · 16 with data
South Africa's literacy rate, youth total (ages 15–24) rose from 85.2 % in 1980 to 97.2 % in 2024.
South Africa's school enrolment, secondary (% gross) rose from 63.8 % in 1989 to 104.1 % in 2023.
South Africa's tertiary enrolment rose from 4.0 % in 1970 to 23.5 % in 2023.
South Africa's children out of school, primary fell from 1.28M in 1970 to 448,146 in 2023.
Latest values — expand for the charts.
- Primary completion ratedown −1.8 pts72nd of 137
- Tertiary attainmentdown −0.5 pts44th of 45
- Tertiary educational attainment (ages 25–34)down −0.1 pts44th of 45
- At least upper secondary attainment (ages 25–64)up +0.6 pts38th of 40
- Expected years of schoolingunchanged +0.0 yrs91st of 195
- Mean years of schooling (ages 25+)up +0.3 yrs57th of 145
- Learning povertyup +2.4 pts53rd of 53
Latest values — expand for the charts.
- Education spendingdown −0.1 pts9th of 40
- Government expenditure on education (% of government expenditure)up +0.6 pts8th of 60
Latest values — expand for the charts.
- Pupil-teacher ratio, primarydown −7.4 %108th of 142*