NP
Education · South Asia · Lower-middle income
Nepal: education in numbers
Pre-primary enrolment is 93.7% (2022), 44th of 176 in the world and 1st of 6 in South Asia. Primary enrolment is 128.6% (2025), 6th of 191 in the world and 1st of 6 in South Asia. Primary completion is 109.4% (2025), 7th of 168 in the world and 1st of 6 in South Asia.
Pre-primary enrolment
NepalSouth AsiaLower-middle incomeWorld
Primary enrolment
NepalSouth AsiaLower-middle incomeWorld
12 indicators
Education: Nepal in detail
Latest reported value, world rank and rank within South Asia; 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 | 93.7%2022 | 44/176 | 1/6 | 12.1% | 75.2% | 104.2% | +6.0 ppsince 2012 | 62.0% | 58.5% | 60.9% | |
| Primary enrolmentPrimary school enrolment, % gross | 128.6%2025 | 6/191 | 1/6 | 114.3% | 147.1% | 121.9% | −15.0 ppsince 2015 | 119.0% | 105.4% | 102.2% | |
| Primary completionPrimary completion rate, % of age group | 109.4%2025 | 7/168 | 1/6 | 64.4% | 106.1%2012 | 101.1%2021 | −2.8 ppsince 2015 | 94.4% | 88.0% | 88.0% | |
| Secondary enrolmentSecondary school enrolment, % gross | 90.4%2024 | 102/176 | 1/6 | 34.4% | 55.6% | 85.3% | +22.9 ppsince 2014 | 76.9% | 68.0% | 77.3% | |
| Lower secondary completionLower secondary completion rate, % of age group | 98.2%2025 | 34/168 | 1/6 | 40.8% | 67.1% | 99.0% | +10.8 ppsince 2015 | 86.6% | 73.7% | 77.9% | |
| Tertiary enrolmentTertiary enrolment, % gross | 21.3%2024 | 129/172 | 4/6 | 4.1% | 13.3% | 14.2% | +8.1 ppsince 2014 | 32.8% | 27.4% | 43.6% | |
| Out-of-school childrenChildren out of school, % of primary school age | 0.8%2025 | 143/178 | 5/6 | 30.9% | 1.7%2011 | 0.2%2021 | −0.1 ppsince 2015 | — | 8.3% | — | |
| Adult literacyAdult literacy rate, % of people 15+ | 68.7%2019 | 117/141 | 5/6 | 48.6%2001 | 59.6%2011 | 68.7%2019 | +13.1 ppsince 2008 | 78.2% | 78.3% | 87.7% | |
| Youth literacyYouth literacy rate, % of people 15–24 | 94.2%2019 | 94/148 | 5/6 | 70.1%2001 | 84.8%2011 | 94.2%2019 | +12.0 ppsince 2008 | 96.9% | 91.9% | 93.1% | |
| Pupils per teacherPupils per teacher, primary | 19.72019 | 81/173 | 5/6 | 38.0 | 31.9 | 19.72019 | −41%since 2009 | 33.2 | 28.9 | 23.4 | |
| Education spendingPublic spending on education, % of GDP | 3.7%2024 | 113/184 | 4/6 | 3.0% | 3.6% | 4.2% | +0.2 ppsince 2014 | 2.9% | 3.4% | 3.6% | |
| Education, % of budgetEducation spending, % of government expenditure | 10.8%2025 | 127/179 | 4/6 | 19.2% | 16.0% | 15.0% | −6.2 ppsince 2015 | 11.3% | 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+6.0 pp93.7% in 2022
- Secondary enrolment+22.9 pp90.4% in 2024
- Lower secondary completion+10.8 pp98.2% in 2025
- Tertiary enrolment+8.1 pp21.3% in 2024
Worse than ten years ago
- Primary completion−2.8 pp109.4% in 2025
Only indicators where higher or lower is clearly better are rated (for example, unemployment down is better, life expectancy up is better).
neighbours
Nepal and its neighbours
Countries sharing a land border with Nepal. Latest values since 2005; the highest in each row is marked.
| Indicator | Nepal | India | China |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-primary enrolment | 93.7%2022 | 51.7%2021 | 93.1%2021 |
| Primary enrolment | 128.6%2025 | 111.0%2025 | 99.6%2024 |
| Primary completion | 109.4%2025 | 90.3%2025 | 103.5%2010 |
| Secondary enrolment | 90.4%2024 | 79.6%2025 | 92.3%2012 |
| Lower secondary completion | 98.2%2025 | 88.0%2025 | 103.6%2012 |
| Tertiary enrolment | 21.3%2024 | 34.4%2025 | 76.9%2024 |
| Out-of-school children | 0.8%2025 | 0.1%2025 | — |
| Adult literacy | 68.7%2019 | 78.2%2024 | 96.7%2020 |
| Youth literacy | 94.2%2019 | 97.3%2024 | 99.8%2020 |