South Africa: School enrollment, secondary (% net)

Key figures

Since 1994 it is up 20.74 percentage points from 51.19% in 1994. The World Bank has no value for 14 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

How it compares

In 2017, South Africa had the 40th highest value of the 43 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 2017 ranking

• Luxembourg — 37th of 43: 83.58%
• Mexico — 38th of 43: 81.16%
• Venezuela, RB — 39th of 43: 73.24%
• British Virgin Islands — 41st of 43: 68.11%
• Panama — 42nd of 43: 63.79%
• Niger — 43rd of 43: 20.07%

What this measures

Net enrollment rate is the ratio of children of official school age who are enrolled in school to the population of the corresponding official school age. Secondary education completes the provision of basic education that began at the primary level, and aims at laying the foundations for lifelong learning and human development, by offering more subject- or skill-oriented instruction using more specialized teachers.

Limitations: Enrollment indicators are based on annual school surveys, but do not necessarily reflect actual attendance or dropout rates during the year. Also, the length of education differs across countries and can influence enrollment rates, although the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) tries to minimize the difference. For example, a shorter duration for primary education tends to increase the rate; a longer one to decrease it (in part because older children are more at risk of dropping out). Moreover, age at enrollment may be inaccurately estimated or misstated, especially in communities where registration of births is not strictly enforced.

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

All 10 values

School enrollment, secondary (% net) in nearby economies

• Burkina Faso — 31% (2018)
• Burundi — 27.52% (2018)
• Cabo Verde — 70.43% (2018)
• Cameroon — 45.99% (2016)
• Eritrea — 41.58% (2018)
• Eswatini — 41.7% (2015)
• Ghana — 57.24% (2019)
• Lesotho — 41.35% (2016)
• Madagascar — 29.85% (2018)
• Malawi — 34.24% (2018)
• Mali

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 school enrollment, secondary (% net)?

71.93% in 2017, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1994?

It is up 20.74 percentage points from 51.19% in 1994. The highest value was 90.54% in 2015 and the lowest 51.19% in 1994.

How does South Africa rank?

40th highest of 43 economies with data for 2017.

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.SEC.NENR, 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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