Education · South Asia · Upper-middle income
Sri Lanka: education in numbers
Pre-primary enrolment is 71.8% (2020), 90th of 176 in the world and 3rd of 6 in South Asia. Primary enrolment is 91.5% (2023), 161st of 191 in the world and 6th of 6 in South Asia. Primary completion is 94.5% (2023), 85th of 168 in the world and 2nd of 6 in South Asia.
Pre-primary enrolment
Sri LankaSouth AsiaUpper-middle incomeWorld
Primary enrolment
Sri LankaSouth AsiaUpper-middle incomeWorld
12 indicators
Education: Sri Lanka 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 | 71.8%2020 | 90/176 | 3/6 | · | 58.7% | 71.8% | +13.1 ppsince 2010 | 62.0% | 77.9% | 60.9% | |
| Primary enrolmentPrimary school enrolment, % gross | 91.5%2023 | 161/191 | 6/6 | 102.9%2001 | 97.5% | 95.2% | −5.8 ppsince 2013 | 119.0% | 100.7% | 102.2% | |
| Primary completionPrimary completion rate, % of age group | 94.5%2023 | 85/168 | 2/6 | 103.2%2001 | 96.1% | 93.5% | −0.9 ppsince 2013 | 94.4% | 95.2% | 88.0% | |
| Secondary enrolmentSecondary school enrolment, % gross | 88.0%2023 | 109/176 | 2/6 | · | 92.3% | 89.8%2021 | −7.2 ppsince 2013 | 76.9% | 96.5% | 77.3% | |
| Lower secondary completionLower secondary completion rate, % of age group | 91.9%2023 | 79/168 | 3/6 | 85.3%2001 | 92.3% | 94.9% | −0.6 ppsince 2013 | 86.6% | 93.0% | 77.9% | |
| Tertiary enrolmentTertiary enrolment, % gross | 20.7%2023 | 130/172 | 5/6 | · | 15.8% | 20.2% | +3.0 ppsince 2013 | 32.8% | 64.6% | 43.6% | |
| Out-of-school childrenChildren out of school, % of primary school age | 9.1%2023 | 49/178 | 2/6 | 3.2%2001 | 7.1% | 0.7% | +2.4 ppsince 2013 | — | 4.0% | — | |
| Adult literacyAdult literacy rate, % of people 15+ | 92.7%2024 | 77/141 | 2/6 | 90.7%2001 | 91.2% | 92.4% | +0.2 ppsince 2014 | 78.2% | 96.2% | 87.7% | |
| Youth literacyYouth literacy rate, % of people 15–24 | 98.9%2024 | 61/148 | 1/6 | 95.6%2001 | 98.2% | 98.9% | +0.4 ppsince 2014 | 96.9% | 99.3% | 93.1% | |
| Pupils per teacherPupils per teacher, primary | 21.72018 | 71/173 | 4/6 | 26.32001 | 23.9 | 21.72018 | −7.5%since 2008 | 33.2 | 18.4 | 23.4 | |
| Education spendingPublic spending on education, % of GDP | 1.8%2023 | 173/184 | 6/6 | 3.1%1998 | 1.7% | 1.6% | +0.3 ppsince 2013 | 2.9% | 3.6% | 3.6% | |
| Education, % of budgetEducation spending, % of government expenditure | 7.2%2024 | 170/179 | 6/6 | 11.7%1998 | 8.6% | 5.5% | −3.6 ppsince 2014 | 11.3% | 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+13.1 pp71.8% in 2020
- Tertiary enrolment+3.0 pp20.7% in 2023
- Adult literacy+0.2 pp92.7% in 2024
- Youth literacy+0.4 pp98.9% in 2024
Worse than ten years ago
- Primary completion−0.9 pp94.5% in 2023
- Secondary enrolment−7.2 pp88.0% in 2023
- Lower secondary completion−0.6 pp91.9% in 2023
- Out-of-school children+2.4 pp9.1% 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
Sri Lanka and its neighbours
Countries sharing a land border with Sri Lanka. Latest values since 2005; the highest in each row is marked.
| Indicator | Sri Lanka | India |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-primary enrolment | 71.8%2020 | 51.7%2021 |
| Primary enrolment | 91.5%2023 | 111.0%2025 |
| Primary completion | 94.5%2023 | 90.3%2025 |
| Secondary enrolment | 88.0%2023 | 79.6%2025 |
| Lower secondary completion | 91.9%2023 | 88.0%2025 |
| Tertiary enrolment | 20.7%2023 | 34.4%2025 |
| Out-of-school children | 9.1%2023 | 0.1%2025 |
| Adult literacy | 92.7%2024 | 78.2%2024 |
| Youth literacy | 98.9%2024 | 97.3%2024 |