Canada: Secondary education, general pupils (% female)

Key figures

Over five years it is up 0.13 percentage points from 48.94% in 2012. Since 1971 it is up 0.24 percentage points from 48.83% in 1971. The World Bank has no value for 15 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2017, Canada's secondary education, general pupils (% female) rose 0.01 percentage points on 2016 (from 49.06% to 49.07%).

Across the 29 yearly changes before that (1972 to 2016), the average change was −0 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.14 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations above 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 0.32 percentage points in 1989 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.34 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 2017, Canada had the 55th highest value of the 69 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 Canada in the 2017 ranking

• Germany — 51st of 69: 49.32%
• United Kingdom — 52nd of 69: 49.21%
• Lithuania — 53rd of 69: 49.09%
• Israel — 55th of 69: 49.02%
• Netherlands — 56th of 69: 48.98%
• Türkiye — 57th of 69: 48.68%

What this measures

Secondary general pupils are the number of secondary students enrolled in general education programs, including teacher training.

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 32 values

Secondary education, general pupils (% female) in nearby economies

• Bermuda — 51.96% (2015)

More education data for Canada

• Primary school starting age (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Lower secondary school starting age (years) — 12 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, pupils — 2.43 million (2023)
• Secondary education, pupils — 2.7 million (2023)
• School enrollment, primary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 0.99 (2020)
• Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP) — 4.84% (2022)
• School enrollment, primary and secondary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 1 (2020)
• School enrollment, secondary (gross), gender parity index (GPI)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Canada's secondary education, general pupils (% female)?

49.07% in 2017, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1971?

It is up 0.24 percentage points from 48.83% in 1971. The highest value was 49.48% in 1980 and the lowest 48.52% in 1993.

How does Canada rank?

55th highest of 69 economies with data for 2017.

Is the latest change in secondary education, general pupils (% female) unusual for Canada?

In 2017, Canada's secondary education, general pupils (% female) rose 0.01 percentage points on 2016 (from 49.06% to 49.07%). Across the 29 yearly changes before that (1972 to 2016), the average change was −0 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.14 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations above 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.SEC.ENRL.GC.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.

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