Pakistan: Secondary education, pupils

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Pakistan's secondary education, pupils rose 16.1% on 2023 (from 16.97 million to 19.7 million).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1981 to 2023), the average change was +6.6% and a typical year strayed about 5% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.9 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 22.9% in 2006 and the biggest yearly fall was 4.9% in 1979. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2015 to 2024 the straight-line trend is upward, about 745,986 a year. A straight line explains 91% of the movement over 9 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 20.07 million for 2027. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2022 to 2024 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 1.28 million, against 2.09 million 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 2024, Pakistan had the 3rd highest value of the 100 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 Pakistan in the 2024 ranking

• China — 1st of 100: 97.98 million
• Brazil — 2nd of 100: 21.5 million
• Bangladesh — 4th of 100: 15.07 million
• Mexico — 5th of 100: 13.99 million
• Philippines — 6th of 100: 11.87 million

What this measures

Secondary education pupils is the total number of pupils enrolled at secondary level in public and private schools.

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

All 43 values

Secondary education, pupils in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 3.43 million (2023)
• Algeria — 6.07 million (2024)
• Bahrain — 109,221 (2024)
• Djibouti — 69,362 (2023)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 11.56 million (2024)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 6.62 million (2023)
• Israel — 948,390 (2024)
• Jordan — 1.03 million (2024)
• Kuwait — 302,047 (2015)
• Lebanon — 417,800 (2024)
• Malta — 32,424 (2023)
• Morocco

More education data for Pakistan

• Primary school starting age (years) — 5 (2025)
• Primary education, duration (years) — 5 (2025)
• Lower secondary school starting age (years) — 10 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 7 (2025)
• Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP) — 1.95% (2023)
• Primary education, pupils — 25.38 million (2024)
• School enrollment, primary (% gross) — 83.73% (2024)
• School enrollment, primary, female (% gross) — 82.44% (2024)
• School enrollment, primary, male (% gross) — 84.96% (2024)
• Primary education, teachers

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 Pakistan's secondary education, pupils?

19.7 million in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1971?

It is up 1,247% from 1.46 million in 1971 (5.03% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 19.7 million in 2024 and the lowest 1.46 million in 1971.

How does Pakistan rank?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SE.SEC.ENRL, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), uri: https://databrowser.uis.unesco.org/resources, note: The data are obtained through the UIS API. 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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