South Africa: Repeaters, primary, male (% of male enrollment)

Key figures

Since 1991 it is down 3.27 percentage points from 13.94% in 1991. The World Bank has no value for 16 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

How it compares

In 2016, South Africa had the 6th highest value of the 17 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 South Africa in the 2016 ranking

• Chad — 2nd of 17: 16.53%
• Guinea — 3rd of 17: 11.34%
• Lesotho — 4th of 17: 10.74%
• Papua New Guinea — 6th of 17: 8.88%
• Yemen, Rep. — 7th of 17: 6.43%
• Gambia, The — 8th of 17: 5.58%

What this measures

Repeaters in primary school are the number of students enrolled in the same grade as in the previous year, as a percentage of all students enrolled in primary school.

Limitations: Country policies on repetition and promotion differ. In some cases the number of repeaters is controlled because of limited capacity. In other cases the number of repeaters is almost 0 because of automatic promotion – suggesting a system that is highly efficient but that may not be endowing students with enough cognitive skills.

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

All 10 values

Repeaters, primary, male (% of male enrollment) in nearby economies

• Benin — 15.4% (2018)
• Burkina Faso — 5.77% (2018)
• Burundi — 27.12% (2018)
• Cabo Verde — 9.8% (2018)
• Cameroon — 12.53% (2018)
• Central African Republic — 22.48% (2016)
• Chad — 16.53% (2016)
• Comoros — 17.39% (2018)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 9.76% (2015)
• Côte d'Ivoire

More education data for South Africa

• Primary school starting age (years) — 7 (2025)
• Primary education, duration (years) — 7 (2025)
• Lower secondary school starting age (years) — 14 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 5 (2025)
• Primary education, pupils — 7.52 million (2023)
• School enrollment, primary (% gross) — 101.77% (2023)
• School enrollment, primary, female (% gross) — 99.21% (2023)
• School enrollment, primary, male (% gross) — 104.32% (2023)
• Government expenditure on education, total (% of government expenditure) — 19.14% (2025)

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Questions people ask

What is South Africa's repeaters, primary, male (% of male enrollment)?

10.66% in 2016, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1991?

It is down 3.27 percentage points from 13.94% in 1991. The highest value was 13.94% in 1991 and the lowest 5.86% in 2003.

How does South Africa rank?

6th highest of 17 economies with data for 2016.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, 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).

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SE.PRM.REPT.MA.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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