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Education · East Asia & Pacific · Lower-middle income
Timor-Leste: education in numbers
Pre-primary enrolment is 27.9% (2020), 146th of 176 in the world and 28th of 30 in East Asia & Pacific. Primary enrolment is 119.7% (2023), 13th of 191 in the world and 2nd of 30 in East Asia & Pacific. Primary completion is 93.2% (2023), 99th of 168 in the world and 16th of 26 in East Asia & Pacific.
Pre-primary enrolment
Timor-LesteEast Asia & PacificLower-middle incomeWorld
Primary enrolment
Timor-LesteEast Asia & PacificLower-middle incomeWorld
12 indicators
Education: Timor-Leste 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 | 27.9%2020 | 146/176 | 28/30 | 6.6%2002 | · | 27.9% | +16.2 ppsince 2005 | 83.2% | 58.5% | 60.9% | |
| Primary enrolmentPrimary school enrolment, % gross | 119.7%2023 | 13/191 | 2/30 | 151.2%2001 | 128.0% | 110.6% | −9.2 ppsince 2013 | 100.0% | 105.4% | 102.2% | |
| Primary completionPrimary completion rate, % of age group | 93.2%2023 | 99/168 | 16/26 | · | 75.2% | 100.1% | +1.9 ppsince 2013 | 95.4% | 88.0% | 88.0% | |
| Secondary enrolmentSecondary school enrolment, % gross | 84.7%2020 | 122/176 | 22/26 | 41.3%2001 | 68.3% | 84.7% | +16.4 ppsince 2010 | 92.0% | 68.0% | 77.3% | |
| Lower secondary completionLower secondary completion rate, % of age group | 88.3%2020 | 93/168 | 18/26 | · | 74.0% | 88.3% | +14.2 ppsince 2010 | 97.3% | 73.7% | 77.9% | |
| Tertiary enrolmentTertiary enrolment, % gross | 31.0%2023 | 110/172 | 20/27 | 8.4%2002 | 17.7% | · | +13.3 ppsince 2010 | 63.3% | 27.4% | 43.6% | |
| Out-of-school childrenChildren out of school, % of primary school age | 6.9%2023 | 59/178 | 9/29 | · | 5.9% | 5.2% | +0.4 ppsince 2013 | — | 8.3% | — | |
| Adult literacyAdult literacy rate, % of people 15+ | 69.4%2022 | 116/141 | 23/23 | 37.6%2001 | 58.3% | 69.4%2022 | +11.1 ppsince 2010 | 96.6% | 78.3% | 87.7% | |
| Youth literacyYouth literacy rate, % of people 15–24 | 86.1%2022 | 119/148 | 23/23 | · | 79.5% | 86.1%2022 | +6.6 ppsince 2010 | 99.1% | 91.9% | 93.1% | |
| Pupils per teacherPupils per teacher, primary | 26.92018 | 45/173 | 6/27 | 61.92001 | 30.2 | 26.92018 | −47%since 2004 | 17.5 | 28.9 | 23.4 | |
| Education spendingPublic spending on education, % of GDP | 5.2%2023 | 51/184 | 11/29 | · | 11.1% | 3.7% | −0.4 ppsince 2013 | 3.5% | 3.4% | 3.6% | |
| Education, % of budgetEducation spending, % of government expenditure | 4.3%2025 | 176/179 | 27/28 | · | 9.2% | 7.0% | −4.3 ppsince 2015 | 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+16.2 pp27.9% in 2020
- Primary completion+1.9 pp93.2% in 2023
- Secondary enrolment+16.4 pp84.7% in 2020
- Lower secondary completion+14.2 pp88.3% in 2020
Worse than ten years ago
- Out-of-school children+0.4 pp6.9% 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
Timor-Leste and its neighbours
Countries sharing a land border with Timor-Leste. Latest values since 2005; the highest in each row is marked.
| Indicator | Timor-Leste | Indonesia | Australia |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-primary enrolment | 27.9%2020 | 62.3%2018 | 160.2%2020 |
| Primary enrolment | 119.7%2023 | 100.4%2025 | 99.6%2024 |
| Primary completion | 93.2%2023 | 100.0%2023 | — |
| Secondary enrolment | 84.7%2020 | 97.2%2025 | 131.9%2024 |
| Lower secondary completion | 88.3%2020 | 99.7%2025 | — |
| Tertiary enrolment | 31.0%2023 | 44.9%2023 | 108.4%2024 |
| Out-of-school children | 6.9%2023 | 0.9%2025 | 0.1%2024 |
| Adult literacy | 69.4%2022 | 96.0%2020 | — |
| Youth literacy | 86.1%2022 | 93.8%2022 | — |