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Education · World Bank income group

Education in low-income countries: how the countries rank

School enrolment, completion, literacy and public spending on education. 12 indicators for the 25 economies in the low income group, ranked within the group; the group figure is the World Bank aggregate.

Pre-primary enrolment20.1%low-income countries, 2020 · world 60.9%Primary enrolment97.6%low-income countries, 2024 · world 102.2%Primary completion62.9%low-income countries, 2023 · world 88.0%Secondary enrolment41.5%low-income countries, 2024 · world 77.3%Lower secondary completion38.6%low-income countries, 2023 · world 77.9%Tertiary enrolment9.3%low-income countries, 2021 · world 43.6%Out-of-school children24.1%low-income countries, 2025Adult literacy63.6%low-income countries, 2024 · world 87.7%
Pre-primary enrolment
low-income countriesWorldlower-middle-income countriesupper-middle-income countrieshigh-income countries
0%25%50%75%100%199520002005201020152020low-income countries20.1%Worldlower-middle-income countriesupper-middle-income countrieshigh-income countries
Primary enrolment
low-income countriesWorldlower-middle-income countriesupper-middle-income countrieshigh-income countries
0%50%100%150%199520002005201020152020low-income countries97.6%Worldlower-middle-income countriesupper-middle-income countrieshigh-income countries
countries

All 25 economies, education

Latest value and rank within the group (small figure). Click a column to sort; the country name opens its education profile.

24 shown
CountryPre-primary enrolmentPrimary enrolmentPrimary completionSecondary enrolmentLower secondary completionTertiary enrolmentOut-of-school childrenAdult literacy
Liberia128.5%#1 · 202066.6%#17 · 202257.8%#11 · 202237.7%#10 · 202044.5%#7 · 2022—38.3%#4 · 202259.4%#11 · 2010
Sudan47.4%#2 · 2018————15.9%#3 · 2015——
The Gambia41.9%#3 · 2022100.4%#9 · 202584.2%#3 · 2025107.0%#2 · 202161.3%#2 · 202513.5%#4 · 202416.9%#11 · 202551.6%#13 · 2021
Madagascar40.1%#4 · 2019132.7%#4 · 202460.7%#9 · 202434.1%#12 · 202130.9%#9 · 20246.1%#11 · 20233.4%#12 · 202474.7%#4 · 2021
Ethiopia30.1%#5 · 202184.4%#13 · 202454.4%#12 · 2024—21.4%#14 · 2023—22.5%#9 · 202460.5%#10 · 2022
Rwanda28.2%#6 · 2021149.6%#2 · 202466.8%#7 · 202448.8%#6 · 202447.6%#6 · 20249.4%#7 · 20241.0%#15 · 202478.8%#2 · 2022
Sierra Leone25.0%#7 · 2021162.1%#1 · 202499.2%#1 · 202486.9%#3 · 202357.1%#3 · 2021——43.6%#14 · 2019
Eritrea23.9%#8 · 201989.7%#11 · 202261.3%#8 · 202244.0%#7 · 202253.4%#5 · 20223.2%#15 · 201640.4%#3 · 2022—
Burundi16.5%#9 · 2021100.6%#8 · 202547.6%#15 · 202023.1%#15 · 202528.0%#11 · 20206.4%#9 · 202526.5%#7 · 202571.3%#5 · 2020
Uganda14.4%#10 · 2017——————77.0%#3 · 2024
South Sudan11.6%#11 · 201898.4%#10 · 2024—122.1%#1 · 2024——64.7%#1 · 2024—
Mali7.6%#12 · 202072.8%#16 · 202348.4%#14 · 202338.9%#8 · 202328.1%#10 · 20235.1%#12 · 201534.0%#6 · 202335.6%#18 · 2024
Niger7.0%#13 · 202164.7%#18 · 202440.8%#17 · 202419.9%#16 · 202411.9%#16 · 20244.2%#14 · 201940.4%#2 · 202435.6%#19 · 2022
Democratic Republic of the Congo6.9%#14 · 2020117.6%#6 · 202375.7%#4 · 202355.5%#5 · 202355.9%#4 · 20206.4%#10 · 2020—68.5%#7 · 2023
Burkina Faso6.5%#15 · 202177.2%#15 · 202452.0%#13 · 202430.0%#13 · 202427.9%#12 · 202410.0%#6 · 202434.3%#5 · 202441.6%#16 · 2023
Central African Republic2.9%#16 · 2017——————42.4%#15 · 2019
Chad1.3%#17 · 202188.5%#12 · 202441.8%#16 · 202123.5%#14 · 202418.4%#15 · 20214.4%#13 · 202024.8%#8 · 202430.6%#20 · 2019
Somalia1.1%#18 · 202120.9%#19 · 2023—3.3%#17 · 2023———54.1%#12 · 2022
Afghanistan—112.2%#7 · 202390.3%#2 · 202359.6%#4 · 202362.1%#1 · 202310.9%#5 · 2020—37.3%#17 · 2021
Guinea-Bissau———————63.9%#8 · 2022
Malawi—139.0%#3 · 202470.1%#6 · 202436.6%#11 · 202324.4%#13 · 20242.7%#16 · 20222.1%#13 · 202270.2%#6 · 2020
Mozambique—119.2%#5 · 202272.4%#5 · 2022——7.5%#8 · 20181.0%#14 · 202261.7%#9 · 2022
North Korea—————26.7%#2 · 2018——
Syria—81.4%#14 · 202460.1%#10 · 202438.7%#9 · 202442.7%#8 · 202443.8%#1 · 201621.8%#10 · 202494.4%#1 · 2021
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)Ranks count group members with a value in the recent window.
within the group

Highest and lowest, indicator by indicator

Pre-primary enrolment18 countries
  1. 1Liberia128.5%2020
  2. 2Sudan47.4%2018
  3. 3The Gambia41.9%2022
Lowest
  1. 18Somalia1.1%2021
  2. 17Chad1.3%2021
  3. 16Central African Republic2.9%2017
Median country 15.5% · group 20.1%
Primary enrolment19 countries
  1. 1Sierra Leone162.1%2024
  2. 2Rwanda149.6%2024
  3. 3Malawi139.0%2024
Lowest
  1. 19Somalia20.9%2023
  2. 18Niger64.7%2024
  3. 17Liberia66.6%2022
Median country 98.4% · group 97.6%
Primary completion17 countries
  1. 1Sierra Leone99.2%2024
  2. 2Afghanistan90.3%2023
  3. 3The Gambia84.2%2025
Lowest
  1. 17Niger40.8%2024
  2. 16Chad41.8%2021
  3. 15Burundi47.6%2020
Median country 60.7% · group 62.9%
Secondary enrolment17 countries
  1. 1South Sudan122.1%2024
  2. 2The Gambia107.0%2021
  3. 3Sierra Leone86.9%2023
Lowest
  1. 17Somalia3.3%2023
  2. 16Niger19.9%2024
  3. 15Burundi23.1%2025
Median country 38.7% · group 41.5%
Lower secondary completion16 countries
  1. 1Afghanistan62.1%2023
  2. 2The Gambia61.3%2025
  3. 3Sierra Leone57.1%2021
Lowest
  1. 16Niger11.9%2024
  2. 15Chad18.4%2021
  3. 14Ethiopia21.4%2023
Median country 36.8% · group 38.6%
Tertiary enrolment16 countries
  1. 1Syria43.8%2016
  2. 2North Korea26.7%2018
  3. 3Sudan15.9%2015
Lowest
  1. 16Malawi2.7%2022
  2. 15Eritrea3.2%2016
  3. 14Niger4.2%2019
Median country 6.9% · group 9.3%
Out-of-school children15 countries
  1. 1South Sudan64.7%2024
  2. 2Niger40.4%2024
  3. 3Eritrea40.4%2022
Lowest
  1. 15Rwanda1.0%2024
  2. 14Mozambique1.0%2022
  3. 13Malawi2.1%2022
Median country 24.8% · group 24.1%
Adult literacy20 countries
  1. 1Syria94.4%2021
  2. 2Rwanda78.8%2022
  3. 3Uganda77.0%2024
Lowest
  1. 20Chad30.6%2019
  2. 19Niger35.6%2022
  3. 18Mali35.6%2024
Median country 59.9% · group 63.6%
Youth literacy20 countries
  1. 1Syria98.4%2021
  2. 2Rwanda90.0%2022
  3. 3Burundi88.4%2020
Lowest
  1. 20Chad45.1%2019
  2. 19Mali50.3%2024
  3. 18Central African Republic50.6%2019
Median country 74.0% · group 75.4%
Pupils per teacher20 countries
  1. 1Central African Republic83.42016
  2. 2Rwanda59.52018
  3. 3Malawi58.72018
Lowest
  1. 20North Korea20.32018
  2. 19Liberia22.32017
  3. 18Yemen26.92016
Median country 39.8 · group 39.8
Education spending17 countries
  1. 1Mozambique6.0%2022
  2. 2Burkina Faso5.3%2023
  3. 3Rwanda4.6%2024
Lowest
  1. 17Somalia0.0%2023
  2. 16Central African Republic1.8%2023
  3. 15Liberia2.3%2023
Median country 2.8% · group 3.0%
Education, % of budget17 countries
  1. 1Sierra Leone20.5%2025
  2. 2Mozambique20.4%2021
  3. 3Burkina Faso20.3%2023
Lowest
  1. 17South Sudan0.0%2024
  2. 16Liberia7.4%2021
  3. 15Somalia8.1%2025
Median country 14.2% · group 16.7%
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