Education · East Asia & Pacific · High income
Singapore: education in numbers
Pre-primary enrolment is 96.1% (2020), 32nd of 176 in the world and 3rd of 30 in East Asia & Pacific. Primary enrolment is 100.2% (2023), 97th of 191 in the world and 17th of 30 in East Asia & Pacific. Primary completion is 96.8% (2023), 70th of 168 in the world and 12th of 26 in East Asia & Pacific.
Primary enrolment
SingaporeEast Asia & PacificHigh incomeWorld
Primary completion
SingaporeEast Asia & PacificHigh incomeWorld
12 indicators
Education: Singapore 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 | 96.1%2020 | 32/176 | 3/30 | · | · | 96.1% | — | 83.2% | 83.8% | 60.9% | |
| Primary enrolmentPrimary school enrolment, % gross | 100.2%2023 | 97/191 | 17/30 | · | · | 100.5% | — | 100.0% | 99.8% | 102.2% | |
| Primary completionPrimary completion rate, % of age group | 96.8%2023 | 70/168 | 12/26 | · | · | 101.4% | — | 95.4% | 97.8% | 88.0% | |
| Secondary enrolmentSecondary school enrolment, % gross | 103.1%2023 | 49/176 | 5/26 | · | · | 103.1% | — | 92.0% | 103.2% | 77.3% | |
| Lower secondary completionLower secondary completion rate, % of age group | 101.6%2023 | 17/168 | 5/26 | · | · | 100.4% | — | 97.3% | 95.6% | 77.9% | |
| Tertiary enrolmentTertiary enrolment, % gross | 97.3%2023 | 12/172 | 5/27 | · | 93.3% | 93.1% | −4.7 ppsince 2012 | 63.3% | 82.0% | 43.6% | |
| Out-of-school childrenChildren out of school, % of primary school age | 0.2%2023 | 163/178 | 26/29 | · | · | 0.1% | — | — | 2.5% | — | |
| Adult literacyAdult literacy rate, % of people 15+ | 97.7%2021 | 41/141 | 8/23 | 92.6% | 95.9% | 97.1% | +1.5 ppsince 2011 | 96.6% | 97.7% | 87.7% | |
| Youth literacyYouth literacy rate, % of people 15–24 | 99.9%2021 | 14/148 | 3/23 | 99.5% | 99.8% | 99.7% | ±0.0 ppsince 2011 | 99.1% | 99.3% | 93.1% | |
| Pupils per teacherPupils per teacher, primary | 14.72017 | 115/173 | 23/27 | · | 18.22009 | · | −30%since 2007 | 17.5 | 14.0 | 23.4 | |
| Education spendingPublic spending on education, % of GDP | 2.2%2024 | 165/184 | 25/29 | 3.3% | 3.1% | 2.7% | −0.8 ppsince 2014 | 3.5% | 4.7% | 3.6% | |
| Education, % of budgetEducation spending, % of government expenditure | 12.0%2025 | 104/179 | 17/28 | 20.3% | 18.6% | 19.2% | −5.7 ppsince 2015 | 13.0% | 12.0% | 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
- Adult literacy+1.5 pp97.7% in 2021
- Pupils per teacher−30%14.7 in 2017
Worse than ten years ago
- Tertiary enrolment−4.7 pp97.3% 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
Singapore and its neighbours
Countries sharing a land border with Singapore. Latest values since 2005; the highest in each row is marked.
| Indicator | Singapore | Indonesia | Malaysia |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-primary enrolment | 96.1%2020 | 62.3%2018 | 87.5%2021 |
| Primary enrolment | 100.2%2023 | 100.4%2025 | 90.4%2024 |
| Primary completion | 96.8%2023 | 100.0%2023 | 87.7%2024 |
| Secondary enrolment | 103.1%2023 | 97.2%2025 | 80.3%2024 |
| Lower secondary completion | 101.6%2023 | 99.7%2025 | 81.5%2024 |
| Tertiary enrolment | 97.3%2023 | 44.9%2023 | 38.5%2024 |
| Out-of-school children | 0.2%2023 | 0.9%2025 | 12.0%2024 |
| Adult literacy | 97.7%2021 | 96.0%2020 | 95.8%2022 |
| Youth literacy | 99.9%2021 | 93.8%2022 | 98.8%2022 |