Education · East Asia & Pacific · Upper-middle income
Tonga: education in numbers
Pre-primary enrolment is 48.3% (2020), 117th of 176 in the world and 22nd of 30 in East Asia & Pacific. Primary enrolment is 108.8% (2024), 37th of 191 in the world and 6th of 30 in East Asia & Pacific. Primary completion is 108.1% (2024), 10th of 168 in the world and 3rd of 26 in East Asia & Pacific.
Pre-primary enrolment
TongaEast Asia & PacificUpper-middle incomeWorld
Primary enrolment
TongaEast Asia & PacificUpper-middle incomeWorld
12 indicators
Education: Tonga 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 | 48.3%2020 | 117/176 | 22/30 | 28.2%1999 | 36.8%2012 | 48.3% | +26.8 ppsince 2004 | 83.2% | 77.9% | 60.9% | |
| Primary enrolmentPrimary school enrolment, % gross | 108.8%2024 | 37/191 | 6/30 | 111.2% | 113.9% | 112.3% | −8.7 ppsince 2014 | 100.0% | 100.7% | 102.2% | |
| Primary completionPrimary completion rate, % of age group | 108.1%2024 | 10/168 | 3/26 | 101.6%2001 | 105.9%2012 | 101.1% | −10.1 ppsince 2013 | 95.4% | 95.2% | 88.0% | |
| Secondary enrolmentSecondary school enrolment, % gross | 92.4%2024 | 90/176 | 15/26 | 100.2% | 105.6% | 90.5% | −4.3 ppsince 2014 | 92.0% | 96.5% | 77.3% | |
| Lower secondary completionLower secondary completion rate, % of age group | 99.4%2024 | 30/168 | 7/26 | 88.9%2001 | · | 78.5% | +26.7 ppsince 2004 | 97.3% | 93.0% | 77.9% | |
| Tertiary enrolmentTertiary enrolment, % gross | 42.9%2023 | 96/172 | 15/27 | 5.4% | · | 21.3% | +36.0 ppsince 2003 | 63.3% | 64.6% | 43.6% | |
| Out-of-school childrenChildren out of school, % of primary school age | 2.3%2022 | 106/178 | 17/29 | 8.6%1999 | 3.2%2012 | 0.3% | −0.9 ppsince 2012 | — | 4.0% | — | |
| Adult literacyAdult literacy rate, % of people 15+ | 99.5%2023 | 17/141 | 3/23 | · | 99.4%2011 | 91.1%2019 | +0.1 ppsince 2011 | 96.6% | 96.2% | 87.7% | |
| Youth literacyYouth literacy rate, % of people 15–24 | 99.7%2023 | 31/148 | 7/23 | · | 99.4%2011 | 99.9%2019 | +0.3 ppsince 2011 | 99.1% | 99.3% | 93.1% | |
| Pupils per teacherPupils per teacher, primary | 21.62015 | 72/173 | 12/27 | 22.1 | 24.9 | · | +6.6%since 2005 | 17.5 | 18.4 | 23.4 | |
| Education spendingPublic spending on education, % of GDP | 5.3%2022 | 47/184 | 10/29 | 4.9% | · | 5.0% | +1.4 ppsince 2004 | 3.5% | 3.6% | 3.6% | |
| Education, % of budgetEducation spending, % of government expenditure | 9.3%2024 | 148/179 | 23/28 | 23.0% | · | 10.7% | −9.8 ppsince 2004 | 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+26.8 pp48.3% in 2020
- Lower secondary completion+26.7 pp99.4% in 2024
- Tertiary enrolment+36.0 pp42.9% in 2023
- Out-of-school children−0.9 pp2.3% in 2022
Worse than ten years ago
- Primary completion−10.1 pp108.1% in 2024
- Secondary enrolment−4.3 pp92.4% in 2024
- Pupils per teacher+6.6%21.6 in 2015
Only indicators where higher or lower is clearly better are rated (for example, unemployment down is better, life expectancy up is better).
neighbours
Tonga and its neighbours
Countries sharing a land border with Tonga. Latest values since 2005; the highest in each row is marked.
| Indicator | Tonga | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-primary enrolment | 48.3%2020 | 72.4%2020 |
| Primary enrolment | 108.8%2024 | 97.0%2022 |
| Primary completion | 108.1%2024 | 95.7%2022 |
| Secondary enrolment | 92.4%2024 | 97.5%2022 |
| Lower secondary completion | 99.4%2024 | 101.4%2022 |
| Tertiary enrolment | 42.9%2023 | 79.4%2022 |
| Out-of-school children | 2.3%2022 | 4.0%2022 |
| Adult literacy | 99.5%2023 | — |
| Youth literacy | 99.7%2023 | — |