LA
Education · East Asia & Pacific · Lower-middle income
Laos: education in numbers
Pre-primary enrolment is 49.3% (2021), 115th of 176 in the world and 21st of 30 in East Asia & Pacific. Primary enrolment is 93.1% (2025), 154th of 191 in the world and 25th of 30 in East Asia & Pacific. Primary completion is 85.2% (2025), 124th of 168 in the world and 23rd of 26 in East Asia & Pacific.
Pre-primary enrolment
LaosEast Asia & PacificLower-middle incomeWorld
Primary enrolment
LaosEast Asia & PacificLower-middle incomeWorld
12 indicators
Education: Laos in detail
Latest reported value, world rank and rank within East Asia & Pacific; values around 2000, 2010, 2020; group and world columns are World Bank aggregates.
| Indicator | Latest | World rank | In region | ~2000 | ~2010 | ~2020 | 10-year change | Region | Income group | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-primary enrolmentPre-primary enrolment, % gross | 49.3%2021 | 115/176 | 21/30 | 7.6% | 20.1% | 49.2% | +27.8 ppsince 2011 | 83.2% | 58.5% | 60.9% | |
| Primary enrolmentPrimary school enrolment, % gross | 93.1%2025 | 154/191 | 25/30 | 105.7% | 119.7% | 100.3% | −21.2 ppsince 2015 | 100.0% | 105.4% | 102.2% | |
| Primary completionPrimary completion rate, % of age group | 85.2%2025 | 124/168 | 23/26 | 66.6% | 83.0% | 90.8% | −15.7 ppsince 2015 | 95.4% | 88.0% | 88.0% | |
| Secondary enrolmentSecondary school enrolment, % gross | 50.5%2025 | 156/176 | 26/26 | 33.3% | 47.4% | 62.4% | −11.8 ppsince 2015 | 92.0% | 68.0% | 77.3% | |
| Lower secondary completionLower secondary completion rate, % of age group | 49.3%2025 | 146/168 | 25/26 | 34.5% | 42.9% | 61.7% | −10.8 ppsince 2015 | 97.3% | 73.7% | 77.9% | |
| Tertiary enrolmentTertiary enrolment, % gross | 14.9%2023 | 142/172 | 26/27 | 2.6% | 16.7% | 12.6% | −4.0 ppsince 2013 | 63.3% | 27.4% | 43.6% | |
| Out-of-school childrenChildren out of school, % of primary school age | 10.4%2025 | 45/178 | 6/29 | 25.0% | 8.3% | 6.9% | +5.5 ppsince 2015 | — | 8.3% | — | |
| Adult literacyAdult literacy rate, % of people 15+ | 75.6%2023 | 106/141 | 21/23 | 69.6% | · | · | +2.9 ppsince 2005 | 96.6% | 78.3% | 87.7% | |
| Youth literacyYouth literacy rate, % of people 15–24 | 90.4%2023 | 112/148 | 22/23 | 80.6% | · | 93.8%2022 | +6.5 ppsince 2005 | 99.1% | 91.9% | 93.1% | |
| Pupils per teacherPupils per teacher, primary | 22.32018 | 67/173 | 11/27 | 30.1 | 28.8 | 22.32018 | −27%since 2008 | 17.5 | 28.9 | 23.4 | |
| Education spendingPublic spending on education, % of GDP | 1.2%2023 | 178/184 | 28/29 | 1.5% | 1.7% | 1.9% | −2.0 ppsince 2013 | 3.5% | 3.4% | 3.6% | |
| Education, % of budgetEducation spending, % of government expenditure | 8.2%2024 | 163/179 | 25/28 | 7.3% | 7.2% | 10.7% | −3.5 ppsince 2014 | 13.0% | 13.6% | 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
- Pre-primary enrolment+27.8 pp49.3% in 2021
- Adult literacy+2.9 pp75.6% in 2023
- Youth literacy+6.5 pp90.4% in 2023
- Pupils per teacher−27%22.3 in 2018
Worse than ten years ago
- Primary completion−15.7 pp85.2% in 2025
- Secondary enrolment−11.8 pp50.5% in 2025
- Lower secondary completion−10.8 pp49.3% in 2025
- Tertiary enrolment−4.0 pp14.9% in 2023
Only indicators where higher or lower is clearly better are rated (for example, unemployment down is better, life expectancy up is better).
neighbours
Laos and its neighbours
Countries sharing a land border with Laos. Latest values since 2005; the highest in each row is marked.
| Indicator | Laos | China | Vietnam | Thailand | Myanmar | Cambodia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-primary enrolment | 49.3%2021 | 93.1%2021 | 92.4%2021 | 74.4%2022 | 8.5%2018 | 33.6%2021 |
| Primary enrolment | 93.1%2025 | 99.6%2024 | 106.3%2024 | 100.7%2025 | 120.2%2018 | 109.0%2024 |
| Primary completion | 85.2%2025 | 103.5%2010 | 100.6%2024 | 107.1%2025 | 105.4%2018 | 91.0%2024 |
| Secondary enrolment | 50.5%2025 | 92.3%2012 | 93.4%2022 | 92.1%2025 | 77.0%2018 | 58.8%2024 |
| Lower secondary completion | 49.3%2025 | 103.6%2012 | 95.2%2024 | 95.7%2025 | 73.8%2018 | 61.6%2024 |
| Tertiary enrolment | 14.9%2023 | 76.9%2024 | 37.6%2024 | 49.1%2025 | 20.4%2018 | 21.4%2024 |
| Out-of-school children | 10.4%2025 | — | 1.7%2024 | 0.8%2025 | 1.4%2010 | 3.7%2024 |
| Adult literacy | 75.6%2023 | 96.7%2020 | 96.1%2022 | 91.1%2022 | 93.5%2020 | 71.9%2021 |
| Youth literacy | 90.4%2023 | 99.8%2020 | 99.1%2022 | 98.2%2022 | 96.4%2020 | 96.6%2023 |