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Education · World Bank region

Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: how the countries rank

School enrolment, completion, literacy and public spending on education. 12 indicators for the 48 economies of Sub-Saharan Africa, ranked within the group; the group figure is the World Bank aggregate.

Pre-primary enrolment28.1%Sub-Saharan Africa, 2020 · world 60.9%Primary enrolment97.1%Sub-Saharan Africa, 2024 · world 102.2%Primary completion68.9%Sub-Saharan Africa, 2024 · world 88.0%Secondary enrolment45.9%Sub-Saharan Africa, 2024 · world 77.3%Lower secondary completion44.4%Sub-Saharan Africa, 2023 · world 77.9%Tertiary enrolment9.3%Sub-Saharan Africa, 2021 · world 43.6%Out-of-school children15.5%median countryAdult literacy68.7%Sub-Saharan Africa, 2024 · world 87.7%
Pre-primary enrolment
Sub-Saharan AfricaWorldEast Asia & PacificEurope & Central AsiaLatin America & Caribbean
0%25%50%75%100%199520002005201020152020Sub-Saharan Africa28.1%WorldEast Asia & PacificEurope & Central AsiaLatin America & Caribbean
Primary enrolment
Sub-Saharan AfricaWorldEast Asia & PacificEurope & Central AsiaLatin America & Caribbean
0%50%100%150%199520002005201020152020Sub-Saharan Africa97.1%WorldEast Asia & PacificEurope & Central AsiaLatin America & Caribbean
countries

All 48 economies, education

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

47 shown
CountryPre-primary enrolmentPrimary enrolmentPrimary completionSecondary enrolmentLower secondary completionTertiary enrolmentOut-of-school childrenAdult literacy
Liberia128.5%#1 · 202066.6%#39 · 202257.8%#29 · 202237.7%#25 · 202044.5%#19 · 2022—38.3%#5 · 202259.4%#29 · 2010
Ghana116.1%#2 · 2020101.0%#18 · 202497.5%#4 · 202475.7%#9 · 202485.1%#5 · 202421.3%#6 · 20244.8%#27 · 202476.5%#14 · 2021
Seychelles104.3%#3 · 202193.4%#25 · 202494.2%#6 · 202470.8%#10 · 202493.2%#2 · 202414.5%#12 · 20246.8%#25 · 202493.9%#2 · 2010
Mauritius102.0%#4 · 2021107.3%#14 · 202483.2%#12 · 202490.7%#5 · 2024—45.8%#1 · 20240.8%#36 · 202494.3%#1 · 2023
Tanzania77.3%#5 · 202192.7%#28 · 202477.3%#14 · 202428.2%#30 · 202134.2%#25 · 20244.0%#32 · 202416.4%#19 · 202478.2%#12 · 2022
Cabo Verde74.7%#6 · 2019103.0%#16 · 202299.1%#3 · 202296.4%#4 · 202283.0%#6 · 202224.3%#3 · 201841.8%#2 · 202288.5%#8 · 2024
Zimbabwe74.3%#7 · 202193.1%#27 · 202486.0%#10 · 2024—65.6%#10 · 20247.7%#23 · 202410.5%#23 · 202493.2%#3 · 2019
Kenya65.1%#8 · 201998.2%#23 · 2023—84.3%#7 · 2023101.2%#1 · 202310.4%#16 · 202432.9%#9 · 2022—
Sudan47.4%#9 · 2018————15.9%#9 · 2015——
Gabon43.0%#10 · 2019——————88.9%#7 · 2021
The Gambia41.9%#11 · 2022100.4%#21 · 202584.2%#11 · 2025107.0%#2 · 202161.3%#11 · 202513.5%#13 · 202416.9%#18 · 202551.6%#31 · 2021
Madagascar40.1%#12 · 2019132.7%#4 · 202460.7%#27 · 202434.1%#28 · 202130.9%#26 · 20246.1%#27 · 20233.4%#31 · 202474.7%#16 · 2021
Namibia36.5%#13 · 2021120.7%#5 · 202488.6%#9 · 202482.0%#8 · 202471.9%#7 · 202426.1%#2 · 20220.9%#35 · 202487.6%#9 · 2023
Cameroon35.6%#14 · 2019114.4%#10 · 202475.3%#16 · 202444.8%#20 · 202335.0%#23 · 202316.7%#8 · 20243.8%#29 · 202472.6%#18 · 2018
Lesotho33.0%#15 · 201980.2%#36 · 202467.0%#22 · 2023—45.0%#18 · 20249.9%#21 · 201832.2%#10 · 202490.4%#6 · 2024
Ethiopia30.1%#16 · 202184.4%#35 · 202454.4%#30 · 2024—21.4%#32 · 2023—22.5%#15 · 202460.5%#27 · 2022
Togo29.2%#17 · 2021114.3%#11 · 202491.2%#8 · 202463.4%#13 · 202356.6%#13 · 202414.9%#11 · 20200.6%#37 · 202472.6%#17 · 2022
Rwanda28.2%#18 · 2021149.6%#2 · 202466.8%#23 · 202448.8%#18 · 202447.6%#17 · 20249.4%#22 · 20241.0%#34 · 202478.8%#11 · 2022
Sierra Leone25.0%#19 · 2021162.1%#1 · 202499.2%#2 · 202486.9%#6 · 202357.1%#12 · 2021——43.6%#35 · 2019
Eritrea23.9%#20 · 201989.7%#29 · 202261.3%#26 · 202244.0%#22 · 202253.4%#15 · 20223.2%#33 · 201640.4%#4 · 2022—
Nigeria23.5%#21 · 201889.6%#30 · 2023—46.9%#19 · 2023——24.3%#14 · 202370.4%#21 · 2024
Benin23.1%#22 · 2021108.0%#13 · 202261.6%#25 · 202243.6%#23 · 202227.9%#30 · 202210.2%#18 · 20229.6%#24 · 202251.4%#32 · 2022
Comoros21.8%#23 · 201897.0%#24 · 202472.7%#18 · 202454.8%#16 · 202244.1%#20 · 202418.8%#7 · 201720.6%#16 · 202475.6%#15 · 2021
Guinea19.7%#24 · 2021100.5%#20 · 202059.9%#28 · 2020—34.5%#24 · 2020—14.7%#20 · 202039.6%#38 · 2018
Senegal17.6%#25 · 202185.3%#34 · 202462.9%#24 · 202444.1%#21 · 202338.7%#22 · 202415.3%#10 · 202424.5%#13 · 202450.4%#33 · 2023
South Africa17.5%#26 · 2020101.8%#17 · 202395.3%#5 · 2023104.1%#3 · 202388.3%#4 · 202323.5%#4 · 20236.1%#26 · 202391.2%#4 · 2024
Burundi16.5%#27 · 2021100.6%#19 · 202547.6%#34 · 202023.1%#32 · 202528.0%#28 · 20206.4%#25 · 202526.5%#11 · 202571.3%#20 · 2020
Uganda14.4%#28 · 2017——————77.0%#13 · 2024
Republic of the Congo14.3%#29 · 201887.9%#32 · 202371.1%#20 · 2023——10.4%#17 · 202317.1%#17 · 2023—
South Sudan11.6%#30 · 201898.4%#22 · 2024—122.1%#1 · 2024——64.7%#1 · 2024—
Côte d'Ivoire10.7%#31 · 202293.3%#26 · 202480.2%#13 · 202465.3%#12 · 202470.8%#8 · 202412.3%#15 · 202412.6%#21 · 202450.0%#34 · 2021
Zambia8.7%#32 · 2017115.6%#9 · 2024—56.8%#14 · 2024——3.5%#30 · 202471.8%#19 · 2024
Mali7.6%#33 · 202072.8%#38 · 202348.4%#32 · 202338.9%#24 · 202328.1%#27 · 20235.1%#29 · 201534.0%#8 · 202335.6%#39 · 2024
Niger7.0%#34 · 202164.7%#40 · 202440.8%#36 · 202419.9%#33 · 202411.9%#34 · 20244.2%#31 · 201940.4%#3 · 202435.6%#40 · 2022
Democratic Republic of the Congo6.9%#35 · 2020117.6%#7 · 202375.7%#15 · 202355.5%#15 · 202355.9%#14 · 20206.4%#26 · 2020—68.5%#23 · 2023
Burkina Faso6.5%#36 · 202177.2%#37 · 202452.0%#31 · 202430.0%#29 · 202427.9%#29 · 202410.0%#19 · 202434.3%#7 · 202441.6%#37 · 2023
Central African Republic2.9%#37 · 2017——————42.4%#36 · 2019
Chad1.3%#38 · 202188.5%#31 · 202441.8%#35 · 202123.5%#31 · 202418.4%#33 · 20214.4%#30 · 202024.8%#12 · 202430.6%#41 · 2019
Somalia1.1%#39 · 202120.9%#41 · 2023—3.3%#34 · 2023———54.1%#30 · 2022
Angola—86.7%#33 · 202347.9%#33 · 202351.5%#17 · 202342.1%#21 · 202310.0%#20 · 202436.8%#6 · 202368.2%#24 · 2023
Botswana—109.3%#12 · 2022101.5%#1 · 202270.6%#11 · 202191.4%#3 · 202221.4%#5 · 20240.5%#38 · 2022—
Eswatini—116.5%#8 · 202393.6%#7 · 2023—67.6%#9 · 2023—3.8%#28 · 202290.8%#5 · 2022
Guinea-Bissau———————63.9%#25 · 2022
Malawi—139.0%#3 · 202470.1%#21 · 202436.6%#26 · 202324.4%#31 · 20242.7%#34 · 20222.1%#32 · 202270.2%#22 · 2020
Mauritania—105.4%#15 · 202473.4%#17 · 202036.0%#27 · 202049.8%#16 · 20206.0%#28 · 202011.3%#22 · 202459.5%#28 · 2020
Mozambique—119.2%#6 · 202272.4%#19 · 2022——7.5%#24 · 20181.0%#33 · 202261.7%#26 · 2022
São Tomé and Príncipe—————12.8%#14 · 2015—87.4%#10 · 2019
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 enrolment39 countries
  1. 1Liberia128.5%2020
  2. 2Ghana116.1%2020
  3. 3Seychelles104.3%2021
Lowest
  1. 39Somalia1.1%2021
  2. 38Chad1.3%2021
  3. 37Central African Republic2.9%2017
Median country 23.9% · group 28.1%
Primary enrolment41 countries
  1. 1Sierra Leone162.1%2024
  2. 2Rwanda149.6%2024
  3. 3Malawi139.0%2024
Lowest
  1. 41Somalia20.9%2023
  2. 40Niger64.7%2024
  3. 39Liberia66.6%2022
Median country 100.4% · group 97.1%
Primary completion36 countries
  1. 1Botswana101.5%2022
  2. 2Sierra Leone99.2%2024
  3. 3Cabo Verde99.1%2022
Lowest
  1. 36Niger40.8%2024
  2. 35Chad41.8%2021
  3. 34Burundi47.6%2020
Median country 72.5% · group 68.9%
Secondary enrolment34 countries
  1. 1South Sudan122.1%2024
  2. 2The Gambia107.0%2021
  3. 3South Africa104.1%2023
Lowest
  1. 34Somalia3.3%2023
  2. 33Niger19.9%2024
  3. 32Burundi23.1%2025
Median country 50.1% · group 45.9%
Lower secondary completion34 countries
  1. 1Kenya101.2%2023
  2. 2Seychelles93.2%2024
  3. 3Botswana91.4%2022
Lowest
  1. 34Niger11.9%2024
  2. 33Chad18.4%2021
  3. 32Ethiopia21.4%2023
Median country 46.3% · group 44.4%
Tertiary enrolment34 countries
  1. 1Mauritius45.8%2024
  2. 2Namibia26.1%2022
  3. 3Cabo Verde24.3%2018
Lowest
  1. 34Malawi2.7%2022
  2. 33Eritrea3.2%2016
  3. 32Tanzania4.0%2024
Median country 10.3% · group 9.3%
Out-of-school children38 countries
  1. 1South Sudan64.7%2024
  2. 2Cabo Verde41.8%2022
  3. 3Niger40.4%2024
Lowest
  1. 38Botswana0.5%2022
  2. 37Togo0.6%2024
  3. 36Mauritius0.8%2024
Median country 15.5%
Adult literacy41 countries
  1. 1Mauritius94.3%2023
  2. 2Seychelles93.9%2010
  3. 3Zimbabwe93.2%2019
Lowest
  1. 41Chad30.6%2019
  2. 40Niger35.6%2022
  3. 39Mali35.6%2024
Median country 70.4% · group 68.7%
Youth literacy42 countries
  1. 1Mauritius99.8%2023
  2. 2Seychelles99.0%2010
  3. 3Eswatini98.7%2022
Lowest
  1. 42Chad45.1%2019
  2. 41Mali50.3%2024
  3. 40Central African Republic50.6%2019
Median country 82.1% · group 79.0%
Pupils per teacher40 countries
  1. 1Central African Republic83.42016
  2. 2Rwanda59.52018
  3. 3Malawi58.72018
Lowest
  1. 40Seychelles14.52018
  2. 39Mauritius16.22018
  3. 38Cabo Verde21.12018
Median country 37.1 · group 37.4
Education spending43 countries
  1. 1Namibia9.1%2024
  2. 2Botswana8.1%2020
  3. 3Mauritania7.6%2024
Lowest
  1. 43Somalia0.0%2023
  2. 42Nigeria0.3%2023
  3. 41Zimbabwe0.4%2023
Median country 3.3% · group 3.3%
Education, % of budget42 countries
  1. 1Mauritania31.9%2024
  2. 2Kenya28.5%2025
  3. 3Namibia24.6%2025
Lowest
  1. 42South Sudan0.0%2024
  2. 41Nigeria3.0%2024
  3. 40Angola6.5%2025
Median country 14.2% · group 15.4%
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