World: Repeaters, primary, total (% of total enrollment)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2018, World's repeaters, primary, total (% of total enrollment) fell 0.04 percentage points on 2017 (from 3.18% to 3.14%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1988 to 2017), the average change was −0.14 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.13 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.7 standard deviations above 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 0.12 percentage points in 2009 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.53 percentage points in 2012. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2009 to 2018 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.21 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 93% 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.

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 49 values

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

• Afghanistan — 4.08% (2018)
• Algeria — 5.5% (2018)
• Bahrain — 0.33% (2018)
• Djibouti — 8.67% (2018)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 2.11% (2018)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 1.39% (2017)
• Israel — 0.77% (2017)
• Jordan — 1.15% (2018)
• Kuwait — 0.51% (2018)
• Lebanon

More education data for World

• Primary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• School enrollment, tertiary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 1.12 (2024)
• Primary education, pupils — 780.85 million (2024)
• School enrollment, primary (% gross) — 102.16% (2024)
• School enrollment, primary, female (% gross) — 101.48% (2024)
• School enrollment, primary, male (% gross) — 102.8% (2024)
• Primary education, teachers — 34.1 million (2024)
• Primary education, teachers (% female) — 69.21% (2024)
• Secondary education, pupils — 651.68 million (2024)

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 World's repeaters, primary, total (% of total enrollment)?

3.14% in 2018, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1970?

It is down 6.77 percentage points from 9.91% in 1970. The highest value was 9.91% in 1970 and the lowest 3.14% in 2018.

Is the latest change in repeaters, primary, total (% of total enrollment) unusual for World?

In 2018, World's repeaters, primary, total (% of total enrollment) fell 0.04 percentage points on 2017 (from 3.18% to 3.14%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1988 to 2017), the average change was −0.14 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.13 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.7 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Where does this data come from?

Source

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

Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.