Pre-demographic dividend: Lower secondary completion rate, female (% of relevant age group)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2021, Pre-demographic dividend's lower secondary completion rate, female (% of relevant age group) rose 0.49 percentage points on 2020 (from 41.06% to 41.55%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1991 to 2020), the average change was +0.82 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.49 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.7 standard deviations below 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 1.73 percentage points in 2002 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.02 percentage points in 1974. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2012 to 2021 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.76 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 100% 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 44.35% for 2024. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2019 to 2021 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 1.12%, against 1.47% 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

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

What this measures

Lower secondary education completion rate is measured as the gross intake ratio to the last grade of lower secondary education (general and pre-vocational). It is calculated as the number of new entrants in the last grade of lower secondary education, regardless of age, divided by the population at the entrance age for the last grade of lower secondary education.

Limitations: The data do not account for students who drop out during the final year of Lower secondary education. Therefore, this rate serves as a proxy and should be considered an upper estimate of the actual Lower secondary 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 50 values

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

• Afghanistan — 52.07% (2023)
• Algeria — 87.34% (2025)
• Bahrain — 100.09% (2024)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 85.69% (2024)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 87.07% (2023)
• Israel — 97.99% (2024)
• Jordan — 94.07% (2024)
• Kuwait — 94.26% (2021)
• Lebanon

More education data for Pre-demographic dividend

• Primary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary completion rate, total (% of relevant age group) — 68.83% (2024)
• Primary education, pupils — 175.74 million (2024)
• School enrollment, primary (% gross) — 98.31% (2024)
• School enrollment, primary, female (% gross) — 96.33% (2024)
• School enrollment, primary, male (% gross) — 100.25% (2024)
• Primary education, teachers — 4.66 million (2024)
• Primary education, teachers (% female)

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 Pre-demographic dividend's lower secondary completion rate, female (% of relevant age group)?

41.55% in 2021, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1972?

It is up 28.19 percentage points from 13.36% in 1972. The highest value was 41.55% in 2021 and the lowest 13.36% in 1972.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SE.SEC.CMPT.LO.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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