Germany: Secondary education, general pupils (% female)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2017, Germany's secondary education, general pupils (% female) fell 0.14 percentage points on 2016 (from 49.45% to 49.32%).

Across the 24 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2016), the average change was −0.02 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.1 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 0.18 percentage points in 2000 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.33 percentage points in 1993. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2008 to 2017 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.06 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 96% of the movement over 10 observed years.

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

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 49.21% for 2020. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2015 to 2017 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 0.04%, against 0.06% for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

In 2017, Germany had the 51st 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 Germany in the 2017 ranking

• Luxembourg — 48th of 69: 49.47%
• New Zealand — 49th of 69: 49.4%
• Ireland — 50th of 69: 49.38%
• United Kingdom — 52nd of 69: 49.21%
• Lithuania — 53rd of 69: 49.09%
• Canada — 54th of 69: 49.07%

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 26 values

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

• Albania — 49.71% (2018)
• Andorra — 49.39% (2018)
• Armenia — 47.77% (2018)
• Austria — 49.86% (2017)
• Azerbaijan — 46.08% (2018)
• Belarus — 49.88% (2018)
• Belgium — 52.58% (2017)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina — 51.45% (2018)
• Bulgaria — 50.42% (2017)
• Croatia — 51.85% (2017)

More education data for Germany

• Primary school starting age (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, duration (years) — 4 (2025)
• Lower secondary school starting age (years) — 10 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 9 (2025)
• Primary education, pupils — 3.31 million (2024)
• Secondary education, pupils — 6.97 million (2024)
• Primary education, teachers — 283,851 (2024)
• Secondary education, teachers — 618,670 (2024)
• School enrollment, primary, private (% of total primary) — 5.13% (2024)
• Primary education, teachers (% female) — 87.33% (2024)

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 Germany's secondary education, general pupils (% female)?

49.32% in 2017, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1992?

It is down 0.5 percentage points from 49.82% in 1992. The highest value was 49.88% in 2008 and the lowest 49.32% in 2017.

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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