Papua New Guinea: Primary completion rate, female (% of relevant age group)

Key figures

Since 1987 it is up 33.78 percentage points from 47.45% in 1987. The World Bank has no value for 18 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 2.85 percentage points in 1988 and the biggest yearly fall was 2.18 percentage points in 1990. 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 2023, Papua New Guinea had the 26th highest value of the 32 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 Papua New Guinea in the 2023 ranking

• Trinidad and Tobago — 22nd of 32: 92.59%
• West Bank and Gaza — 23rd of 32: 90.26%
• Türkiye — 24th of 32: 89.36%
• Romania — 26th of 32: 81%
• Afghanistan — 27th of 32: 76.68%
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 28th of 32: 72.92%

What this measures

Primary completion rate, or gross intake ratio to the last grade of primary education, is the number of new entrants (enrollments minus repeaters) in the last grade of primary education, regardless of age, divided by the population at the entrance age for the last grade of primary education. Data limitations preclude adjusting for students who drop out during the final year of primary education.

Limitations: The data do not account for students who drop out during the final year of primary education. Therefore, this rate serves as a proxy and should be considered an upper estimate of the actual primary completion rate. There are many reasons why the primary completion rate can exceed 100 percent. The numerator may include late entrants and overage children who have repeated one or more grades of primary education as well as children who entered school early, while the denominator is the number of children at the entrance age for the last grade of primary education.

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

All 19 values

Primary completion rate, female (% of relevant age group) in nearby economies

• Brunei Darussalam — 101.27% (2024)
• Cambodia — 93.16% (2024)
• Fiji — 113.79% (2024)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 90.72% (2024)
• Indonesia — 98.79% (2023)
• Kiribati — 88.33% (2024)
• Korea, Rep. — 102.62% (2024)
• Lao PDR — 85.55% (2025)
• Macao SAR, China — 93.91% (2024)

More education data for Papua New Guinea

• Primary school starting age (years) — 7 (2025)
• Primary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Lower secondary school starting age (years) — 13 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, pupils — 1.65 million (2023)
• School enrollment, primary (% gross) — 121.09% (2023)
• School enrollment, primary, female (% gross) — 118.92% (2023)
• School enrollment, primary, male (% gross) — 123.09% (2023)
• School enrollment, primary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 0.93 (2018)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Papua New Guinea's primary completion rate, female (% of relevant age group)?

81.23% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1987?

It is up 33.78 percentage points from 47.45% in 1987. The highest value was 86% in 2021 and the lowest 46.49% in 1992.

How does Papua New Guinea rank?

26th highest of 32 economies with data for 2023.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, 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..

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SE.PRM.CMPT.FE.ZS, 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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