Bangladesh: Primary education, pupils (% female)

Key figures

Since 1970 it is up 18.71 percentage points from 32.04% in 1970. The World Bank has no value for 20 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2018, Bangladesh's primary education, pupils (% female) rose 0.07 percentage points on 2017 (from 50.68% to 50.75%).

Across the 25 yearly changes before that (1971 to 2017), the average change was +0.52 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.61 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 3.69 percentage points in 1988 and the biggest yearly fall was 3.73 percentage points in 1983. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2018, Bangladesh had the 4th highest value of the 88 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Bangladesh in the 2018 ranking

• Senegal — 1st of 88: 52.52%
• Gambia, The — 2nd of 88: 51.81%
• Sierra Leone — 3rd of 88: 50.85%
• Mauritania — 5th of 88: 50.7%
• San Marino — 6th of 88: 50.53%
• Oman — 7th of 88: 50.21%

What this measures

Female pupils as a percentage of total pupils at primary level include enrollments in public and private schools.

Limitations: The percentage of female enrollment is limited in assessing gender parity, because it's affected by the gender composition of population. Ratio of female to male in enrollment rate provides a population adjusted measure of gender parity.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 29 values

Primary education, pupils (% female) in nearby economies

• Bhutan — 49.28% (2018)
• India — 50.88% (2017)
• Maldives — 48.78% (2017)
• Nepal — 50.61% (2019)
• Sri Lanka — 49.23% (2018)

More education data for Bangladesh

• Primary school starting age (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, duration (years) — 5 (2025)
• Lower secondary school starting age (years) — 11 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 7 (2025)
• School enrollment, tertiary (% gross) — 23.73% (2024)
• School enrollment, tertiary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 0.77 (2024)
• School enrollment, tertiary, female (% gross) — 20.79% (2024)
• School enrollment, tertiary, male (% gross) — 26.95% (2024)
• Secondary education, pupils — 15.07 million (2024)
• School enrollment, secondary (% gross)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Bangladesh's primary education, pupils (% female)?

50.75% in 2018, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1970?

It is up 18.71 percentage points from 32.04% in 1970. The highest value was 50.75% in 2018 and the lowest 31.84% in 1971.

How does Bangladesh rank?

4th highest of 88 economies with data for 2018.

Is the latest change in primary education, pupils (% female) unusual for Bangladesh?

In 2018, Bangladesh's primary education, pupils (% female) rose 0.07 percentage points on 2017 (from 50.68% to 50.75%). Across the 25 yearly changes before that (1971 to 2017), the average change was +0.52 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.61 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SE.PRM.ENRL.FE.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Stat Bulk Data Download Service, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), uri: https://uis.unesco.org/bdds, publisher: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.