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Education · Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan · Low income

Afghanistan: education in numbers

Pre-primary enrolment is 1.1% (2011). Primary enrolment is 112.2% (2023), 27th of 191 in the world and 2nd of 19 in the Middle East & North Africa. Primary completion is 90.3% (2023), 112th of 168 in the world and 15th of 19 in the Middle East & North Africa.

Pre-primary enrolment1.1%2011Primary enrolment112.2%2023 · world 27/191 · region 2/19Primary completion90.3%2023 · world 112/168 · region 15/19Secondary enrolment59.6%2023 · world 148/176 · region 15/17
Primary enrolment
AfghanistanMiddle East, North Africa, A…Low incomeWorld
0%50%100%150%199520002005201020152020Afghanistan112.2%Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & PakistanLow incomeWorld
Secondary enrolment
AfghanistanMiddle East, North Africa, A…Low incomeWorld
0%20%40%60%80%199520002005201020152020Afghanistan59.6%Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & PakistanLow incomeWorld
11 indicators

Education: Afghanistan in detail

Latest reported value, world rank and rank within Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan; values around 2000, 2010, 2020; group and world columns are World Bank aggregates.

IndicatorLatestWorld rankIn region~2000~2010~202010-year changeRegionIncome groupWorldSince 2000
Pre-primary enrolmentPre-primary enrolment, % gross1.1%2011——·1.1%2011·—33.8%20.1%60.9%
Primary enrolmentPrimary school enrolment, % gross112.2%202327/1912/1921.5%103.5%109.1%2019+4.3 ppsince 201394.6%97.6%102.2%
Primary completionPrimary completion rate, % of age group90.3%2023112/16815/19··88.9%2019—83.7%62.9%88.0%
Secondary enrolmentSecondary school enrolment, % gross59.6%2023148/17615/1714.0%200150.4%57.4%2018+4.7 ppsince 201365.8%41.5%77.3%
Lower secondary completionLower secondary completion rate, % of age group62.1%2023131/16816/19··60.4%2019+44.7 ppsince 200566.7%38.6%77.9%
Tertiary enrolmentTertiary enrolment, % gross10.9%2020150/17219/19·3.7%201110.9%+6.9 ppsince 200929.7%9.3%43.6%
Adult literacyAdult literacy rate, % of people 15+37.3%2021138/14118/18·31.5%201136.0%+5.8 ppsince 201175.6%63.6%87.7%
Youth literacyYouth literacy rate, % of people 15–2462.7%2022143/14819/19·47.0%201154.0%+15.7 ppsince 201186.9%75.4%93.1%
Pupils per teacherPupils per teacher, primary48.820188/1731/2033.2199944.448.82018+12%since 200821.339.823.4
Education spendingPublic spending on education, % of GDP4.3%2017——·3.5%·—4.4%3.0%3.6%
Education, % of budgetEducation spending, % of government expenditure15.7%2017——0.0%17.1%·+15.7 ppsince 200113.1%16.7%14.0%
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)“·” — no value reported within two years of that date. World rank counts countries with a recent value.

Better than ten years ago

Worse than ten years ago

Only indicators where higher or lower is clearly better are rated (for example, unemployment down is better, life expectancy up is better).

neighbours

Afghanistan and its neighbours

Countries sharing a land border with Afghanistan. Latest values since 2005; the highest in each row is marked.

IndicatorAfghanistanChinaPakistanIranUzbekistanTajikistan
Pre-primary enrolment1.1%201193.1%202182.6%201972.5%202044.0%20219.9%2017
Primary enrolment112.2%202399.6%202483.7%2024102.0%2023120.9%202595.8%2024
Primary completion90.3%2023103.5%201074.1%202497.4%202383.6%202591.6%2017
Secondary enrolment59.6%202392.3%201248.3%202485.1%202398.1%202586.9%2024
Lower secondary completion62.1%2023103.6%201255.8%202485.2%202397.6%202588.0%2017
Tertiary enrolment10.9%202076.9%202410.9%202458.7%202259.8%202535.6%2024
Adult literacy37.3%202196.7%202058.9%202188.9%2023100.0%202299.7%2009
Youth literacy62.7%202299.8%202073.1%202198.7%2023100.0%202298.8%2017
Pupils per teacher48.8201816.4201844.1201828.5201721.5201822.32017
China: educationPakistan: educationIran: educationUzbekistan: educationTajikistan: education
Education in Middle East & North Africaall 23 economies rankedEducation: low-income countries25 economies rankedEducation: world leaderboardstop and bottom countriesAfghanistan: all key statisticscountry profile