India: Secondary education, vocational pupils

Key figures

Since 1971 it is up 949.65% from 219,193 in 1971 (5.24% a year on average, compounded). The World Bank has no value for 11 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2017, India's secondary education, vocational pupils rose 30.5% on 2016 (from 1.76 million to 2.3 million).

Across the 28 yearly changes before that (1972 to 2016), the average change was +5.5% and a typical year strayed about 14.9% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.7 standard deviations above 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 63.9% in 1977 and the biggest yearly fall was 21.8% in 1981. 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, India had the 4th highest value of the 61 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 India in the 2017 ranking

• Mexico — 1st of 61: 3.75 million
• Türkiye — 2nd of 61: 2.71 million
• United Kingdom — 4th of 61: 2.21 million
• Italy — 5th of 61: 1.57 million
• Russian Federation — 6th of 61: 1.43 million

What this measures

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

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

All 36 values

Secondary education, vocational pupils in nearby economies

• Bangladesh — 757,289 (2018)
• Bhutan — 1,583 (2018)
• Nepal — 42,255 (2019)
• Sri Lanka — 105,865 (2018)

More education data for India

• 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)
• Primary education, pupils — 126.12 million (2025)
• School enrollment, primary (% gross) — 111.03% (2025)
• School enrollment, primary, female (% gross) — 110.61% (2025)
• School enrollment, primary, male (% gross) — 111.42% (2025)
• School enrollment, primary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 1.02 (2021)
• Secondary education, pupils — 133.16 million (2025)

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 India's secondary education, vocational pupils?

2.3 million in 2017, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1971?

It is up 949.65% from 219,193 in 1971 (5.24% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 2.3 million in 2017 and the lowest 219,193 in 1971.

How does India rank?

4th highest of 61 economies with data for 2017.

Is the latest change in secondary education, vocational pupils unusual for India?

In 2017, India's secondary education, vocational pupils rose 30.5% on 2016 (from 1.76 million to 2.3 million). Across the 28 yearly changes before that (1972 to 2016), the average change was +5.5% and a typical year strayed about 14.9% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.7 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SE.SEC.ENRL.VO, 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.