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Education · World Bank region

Education in Middle East & North Africa: how the countries rank

School enrolment, completion, literacy and public spending on education. 12 indicators for the 23 economies of Middle East & North Africa, ranked within the group; the group figure is the World Bank aggregate.

Pre-primary enrolment33.8%group, 2020 · world 60.9%Primary enrolment94.6%group, 2024 · world 102.2%Primary completion83.7%group, 2024 · world 88.0%Secondary enrolment65.8%group, 2024 · world 77.3%Lower secondary completion66.7%group, 2024 · world 77.9%Tertiary enrolment29.7%group, 2024 · world 43.6%Out-of-school children2.7%median countryAdult literacy75.6%group, 2024 · world 87.7%
Pre-primary enrolment
Middle East & North AfricaWorldEast Asia & PacificEurope & Central AsiaLatin America & Caribbean
0%25%50%75%100%199520002005201020152020Middle East & North Africa33.8%WorldEast Asia & PacificEurope & Central AsiaLatin America & Caribbean
Primary enrolment
Middle East & North AfricaWorldEast Asia & PacificEurope & Central AsiaLatin America & Caribbean
80%90%100%110%120%199520002005201020152020Middle East & North Africa94.6%WorldEast Asia & PacificEurope & Central AsiaLatin America & Caribbean
countries

All 23 economies, education

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

21 shown
CountryPre-primary enrolmentPrimary enrolmentPrimary completionSecondary enrolmentLower secondary completionTertiary enrolmentOut-of-school childrenAdult literacy
Malta112.5%#1 · 202097.7%#9 · 202397.1%#7 · 2023103.0%#3 · 202397.3%#5 · 202380.5%#2 · 20232.6%#10 · 202393.3%#10 · 2011
Israel111.2%#2 · 202097.4%#11 · 202497.0%#9 · 202498.5%#7 · 202497.8%#4 · 202456.3%#6 · 20242.7%#9 · 2024—
United Arab Emirates94.2%#3 · 2020108.0%#3 · 202499.2%#3 · 2023102.1%#4 · 2024104.2%#1 · 202363.7%#3 · 20240.0%#17 · 202498.8%#1 · 2024
Pakistan82.6%#4 · 201983.7%#16 · 202474.1%#17 · 202448.3%#16 · 202455.8%#17 · 202410.9%#18 · 202417.9%#3 · 202458.9%#17 · 2021
Iran72.5%#5 · 2020102.0%#7 · 202397.4%#6 · 202385.1%#12 · 202385.2%#11 · 202358.7%#4 · 20220.1%#16 · 202388.9%#12 · 2023
Kuwait60.2%#6 · 202082.4%#17 · 202180.4%#16 · 2021—85.3%#10 · 202151.9%#9 · 2021—96.5%#7 · 2020
Morocco59.9%#7 · 2021116.6%#1 · 2024106.4%#1 · 202490.0%#10 · 202477.2%#15 · 202448.2%#10 · 20240.5%#15 · 202164.3%#16 · 2014
Qatar54.0%#8 · 202197.6%#10 · 202495.4%#10 · 202499.6%#5 · 202492.5%#7 · 202443.0%#13 · 20244.6%#7 · 202497.8%#5 · 2014
Bahrain52.6%#9 · 202096.9%#12 · 202494.1%#11 · 202498.8%#6 · 202499.8%#3 · 202458.4%#5 · 20244.7%#6 · 202497.8%#4 · 2024
West Bank and Gaza49.5%#10 · 202191.4%#15 · 202391.2%#14 · 202389.1%#11 · 202391.2%#9 · 202344.5%#11 · 20239.6%#4 · 202397.9%#2 · 2024
Egypt29.3%#11 · 201996.7%#13 · 202498.2%#5 · 202484.8%#13 · 202483.9%#12 · 202438.0%#16 · 20253.5%#8 · 202479.5%#15 · 2022
Oman27.4%#12 · 202194.7%#14 · 202492.1%#13 · 202495.1%#8 · 202495.3%#6 · 202442.2%#14 · 20245.8%#5 · 202497.3%#6 · 2022
Jordan26.6%#13 · 202198.6%#8 · 202497.0%#8 · 202491.8%#9 · 202491.3%#8 · 202435.9%#17 · 20241.9%#11 · 202494.4%#8 · 2024
Saudi Arabia18.3%#14 · 2021104.0%#6 · 202499.4%#2 · 2024110.7%#1 · 2024103.5%#2 · 202483.9%#1 · 20240.5%#14 · 202497.9%#3 · 2024
Djibouti11.6%#15 · 2021———————
Afghanistan—112.2%#2 · 202390.3%#15 · 202359.6%#15 · 202362.1%#16 · 202310.9%#19 · 2020—37.3%#18 · 2021
Algeria—105.5%#4 · 202598.2%#4 · 2025105.2%#2 · 202479.0%#14 · 202554.4%#7 · 20241.6%#12 · 2025—
Iraq———————84.1%#14 · 2021
Lebanon—81.8%#18 · 202467.3%#18 · 202363.8%#14 · 202452.9%#18 · 202354.4%#8 · 202322.5%#1 · 202492.0%#11 · 2019
Syria—81.4%#19 · 202460.1%#19 · 202438.7%#17 · 202442.7%#19 · 202443.8%#12 · 201621.8%#2 · 202494.4%#9 · 2021
Tunisia—104.4%#5 · 202393.6%#12 · 2021—82.4%#13 · 202138.1%#15 · 20231.1%#13 · 202386.2%#13 · 2023
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 enrolment15 countries
  1. 1Malta112.5%2020
  2. 2Israel111.2%2020
  3. 3United Arab Emirates94.2%2020
Lowest
  1. 15Djibouti11.6%2021
  2. 14Saudi Arabia18.3%2021
  3. 13Jordan26.6%2021
Median country 54.0% · group 33.8%
Primary enrolment19 countries
  1. 1Morocco116.6%2024
  2. 2Afghanistan112.2%2023
  3. 3United Arab Emirates108.0%2024
Lowest
  1. 19Syria81.4%2024
  2. 18Lebanon81.8%2024
  3. 17Kuwait82.4%2021
Median country 97.6% · group 94.6%
Primary completion19 countries
  1. 1Morocco106.4%2024
  2. 2Saudi Arabia99.4%2024
  3. 3United Arab Emirates99.2%2023
Lowest
  1. 19Syria60.1%2024
  2. 18Lebanon67.3%2023
  3. 17Pakistan74.1%2024
Median country 95.4% · group 83.7%
Secondary enrolment17 countries
  1. 1Saudi Arabia110.7%2024
  2. 2Algeria105.2%2024
  3. 3Malta103.0%2023
Lowest
  1. 17Syria38.7%2024
  2. 16Pakistan48.3%2024
  3. 15Afghanistan59.6%2023
Median country 91.8% · group 65.8%
Lower secondary completion19 countries
  1. 1United Arab Emirates104.2%2023
  2. 2Saudi Arabia103.5%2024
  3. 3Bahrain99.8%2024
Lowest
  1. 19Syria42.7%2024
  2. 18Lebanon52.9%2023
  3. 17Pakistan55.8%2024
Median country 85.3% · group 66.7%
Tertiary enrolment19 countries
  1. 1Saudi Arabia83.9%2024
  2. 2Malta80.5%2023
  3. 3United Arab Emirates63.7%2024
Lowest
  1. 19Afghanistan10.9%2020
  2. 18Pakistan10.9%2024
  3. 17Jordan35.9%2024
Median country 48.2% · group 29.7%
Out-of-school children17 countries
  1. 1Lebanon22.5%2024
  2. 2Syria21.8%2024
  3. 3Pakistan17.9%2024
Lowest
  1. 17United Arab Emirates0.0%2024
  2. 16Iran0.1%2023
  3. 15Morocco0.5%2021
Median country 2.7%
Adult literacy18 countries
  1. 1United Arab Emirates98.8%2024
  2. 2West Bank and Gaza97.9%2024
  3. 3Saudi Arabia97.9%2024
Lowest
  1. 18Afghanistan37.3%2021
  2. 17Pakistan58.9%2021
  3. 16Morocco64.3%2014
Median country 93.9% · group 75.6%
Youth literacy19 countries
  1. 1Saudi Arabia99.9%2024
  2. 2Oman99.7%2022
  3. 3United Arab Emirates99.6%2024
Lowest
  1. 19Afghanistan62.7%2022
  2. 18Pakistan73.1%2021
  3. 17Djibouti79.6%2017
Median country 98.7% · group 86.9%
Pupils per teacher20 countries
  1. 1Afghanistan48.82018
  2. 2Pakistan44.12018
  3. 3Djibouti29.42018
Lowest
  1. 20Kuwait8.92018
  2. 19Oman9.72018
  3. 18Bahrain11.92018
Median country 21.1 · group 21.3
Education spending16 countries
  1. 1Algeria9.0%2024
  2. 2Tunisia6.7%2023
  3. 3Kuwait6.4%2024
Lowest
  1. 16Lebanon1.2%2024
  2. 15Bahrain1.9%2023
  3. 14Pakistan1.9%2023
Median country 4.4% · group 4.4%
Education, % of budget15 countries
  1. 1Morocco23.3%2024
  2. 2Iran18.8%2022
  3. 3Tunisia17.3%2025
Lowest
  1. 15Bahrain8.3%2025
  2. 14Lebanon8.6%2025
  3. 13Qatar9.3%2020
Median country 14.2% · group 13.1%
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