Education · East Asia & Pacific · Upper-middle income
Samoa: education in numbers
Pre-primary enrolment is 41.4% (2021), 124th of 176 in the world and 24th of 30 in East Asia & Pacific. Primary enrolment is 101.0% (2024), 87th of 191 in the world and 13th of 30 in East Asia & Pacific. Primary completion is 100.0% (2024), 33rd of 168 in the world and 8th of 26 in East Asia & Pacific.
Pre-primary enrolment
SamoaEast Asia & PacificUpper-middle incomeWorld
Primary enrolment
SamoaEast Asia & PacificUpper-middle incomeWorld
12 indicators
Education: Samoa 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 | 41.4%2021 | 124/176 | 24/30 | 52.1% | 35.5% | 41.4%2021 | +2.8 ppsince 2011 | 83.2% | 77.9% | 60.9% | |
| Primary enrolmentPrimary school enrolment, % gross | 101.0%2024 | 87/191 | 13/30 | 96.7% | 107.7% | 102.0% | −5.6 ppsince 2014 | 100.0% | 100.7% | 102.2% | |
| Primary completionPrimary completion rate, % of age group | 100.0%2024 | 33/168 | 8/26 | 95.8% | 103.5% | 102.9% | −3.0 ppsince 2014 | 95.4% | 95.2% | 88.0% | |
| Secondary enrolmentSecondary school enrolment, % gross | 87.4%2016 | — | — | 77.4% | 84.0% | · | +5.8 ppsince 2006 | 92.0% | 96.5% | 77.3% | |
| Lower secondary completionLower secondary completion rate, % of age group | 96.8%2024 | 51/168 | 11/26 | 92.9% | 104.4% | 105.0% | −5.6 ppsince 2014 | 97.3% | 93.0% | 77.9% | |
| Tertiary enrolmentTertiary enrolment, % gross | 16.0%2024 | 137/172 | 25/27 | 7.2% | · | 17.3% | +8.8 ppsince 2000 | 63.3% | 64.6% | 43.6% | |
| Out-of-school childrenChildren out of school, % of primary school age | 1.8%2024 | 116/178 | 18/29 | 1.6% | 0.4% | 1.6% | +1.6 ppsince 2014 | — | 4.0% | — | |
| Adult literacyAdult literacy rate, % of people 15+ | 98.0%2019 | 34/141 | 7/23 | · | 99.0%2011 | 98.0%2019 | — | 96.6% | 96.2% | 87.7% | |
| Youth literacyYouth literacy rate, % of people 15–24 | 99.0%2019 | 53/148 | 11/23 | · | 99.2%2011 | 99.0%2019 | — | 99.1% | 99.3% | 93.1% | |
| Pupils per teacherPupils per teacher, primary | 30.22010 | — | — | 24.0 | 30.2 | · | +26%since 2000 | 17.5 | 18.4 | 23.4 | |
| Education spendingPublic spending on education, % of GDP | 5.5%2024 | 36/184 | 8/29 | 3.6% | 4.8%2011 | 4.5% | ±0.0 ppsince 2014 | 3.5% | 3.6% | 3.6% | |
| Education, % of budgetEducation spending, % of government expenditure | 11.7%2025 | 112/179 | 19/28 | 10.5% | 8.8% | 12.8% | −3.0 ppsince 2015 | 13.0% | 15.1% | 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+2.8 pp41.4% in 2021
- Secondary enrolment+5.8 pp87.4% in 2016
- Tertiary enrolment+8.8 pp16.0% in 2024
Worse than ten years ago
- Primary completion−3.0 pp100.0% in 2024
- Lower secondary completion−5.6 pp96.8% in 2024
- Out-of-school children+1.6 pp1.8% in 2024
- Pupils per teacher+26%30.2 in 2010
Only indicators where higher or lower is clearly better are rated (for example, unemployment down is better, life expectancy up is better).
neighbours
Samoa and its neighbours
Countries sharing a land border with Samoa. Latest values since 2005; the highest in each row is marked.
| Indicator | Samoa | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-primary enrolment | 41.4%2021 | 72.4%2020 |
| Primary enrolment | 101.0%2024 | 97.0%2022 |
| Primary completion | 100.0%2024 | 95.7%2022 |
| Secondary enrolment | 87.4%2016 | 97.5%2022 |
| Lower secondary completion | 96.8%2024 | 101.4%2022 |
| Tertiary enrolment | 16.0%2024 | 79.4%2022 |
| Out-of-school children | 1.8%2024 | 4.0%2022 |
| Adult literacy | 98.0%2019 | — |
| Youth literacy | 99.0%2019 | — |