Percentage of pupils enrolled in primary education who are at least 2 in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa: Percentage of pupils enrolled in primary education who are at least 2 was 20.9% in 2018. ▼ Falling

Latest (2018)
20.9%
Change on year
down 2.1%
Rank
8th
of 39 groups
All-time high
30.5%
in 1999
All-time low
20.5%
in 2014
Years of data
20
1999–2018

Percentage of pupils enrolled in primary education who are at least 2 in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1999–2018

01020301999200820181999: 30.5 %2000: 30.1 %2001: 30.4 %2002: 29.3 %2003: 26.8 %2004: 29.7 %2005: 28.7 %2006: 27.7 %2007: 27.4 %2008: 26.5 %2009: 26.4 %2010: 26.7 %2011: 21.9 %2012: 22.6 %2013: 22.3 %2014: 20.5 %2015: 20.7 %2016: 20.8 %2017: 21.4 %2018: 20.9 %

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.

Analysis

In 2018, percentage of pupils enrolled in primary education who are at least 2 in Sub-Saharan Africa stood at 20.9%.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 2.1% on the previous year and down 21.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, percentage of pupils enrolled in primary education who are at least 2 in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 30.5% in 1999 and was at its lowest, 20.5%, in 2014.

Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 8th of 39 groups on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 20 years of available data.

Percentage of pupils enrolled in primary education who are at least 2 in Sub-Saharan Africa, year by year

Annual values for Percentage of pupils enrolled in primary education who are at least 2 years over-age for their current grade, female (%) in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1999 to 2018.
Year % Change
1999 30.5%
2000 30.1% -1.3%
2001 30.4% +1.3%
2002 29.3% -3.6%
2003 26.8% -8.7%
2004 29.7% +10.7%
2005 28.7% -3.2%
2006 27.7% -3.4%
2007 27.4% -1.3%
2008 26.5% -3.1%
2009 26.4% -0.2%
2010 26.7% +1.0%
2011 21.9% -18.0%
2012 22.6% +3.0%
2013 22.3% -1.3%
2014 20.5% -7.9%
2015 20.7% +0.7%
2016 20.8% +0.4%
2017 21.4% +3.1%
2018 20.9% -2.1%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 30.5% 30.5% 30.5% 1
2000s 28.3% 26.4% 30.4% 10
2010s 22.0% 20.5% 26.7% 9

Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa

  1. 5 Nepal 38.6% compare
  2. 6 Central African Republic 36.5% compare
  3. 7 Eswatini 36.0% compare
  4. 8 Equatorial Guinea 36.0% compare
  5. 9 Mozambique 35.9% compare
  6. 10 Malawi 35.4% compare
  7. 11 Nicaragua 34.9% compare

See the full ranking of 192 places →

More reference data data for Sub-Saharan Africa

All data for Sub-Saharan Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is percentage of pupils enrolled in primary education who are at least 2 in Sub-Saharan Africa?
Percentage of pupils enrolled in primary education who are at least 2 in Sub-Saharan Africa was 20.9% in 2018, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest percentage of pupils enrolled in primary education who are at least 2 recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
The highest recorded value was 30.5% in 1999.
What is the lowest percentage of pupils enrolled in primary education who are at least 2 recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 20.5% in 2014.
How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for percentage of pupils enrolled in primary education who are at least 2?
Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 8th out of 39 groups with data for 2018.
Is percentage of pupils enrolled in primary education who are at least 2 rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?
Over the last ten years it is down 21.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa data come from?
The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Percentage of pupils enrolled in primary education who are at least 2 years over-age for their current grade, female (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 20 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Percentage of pupils enrolled in primary education who are at least 2 in Sub-Saharan Africa. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 13 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/percentage-of-pupils-enrolled-in-primary-education-who-are-at-least-2-years-over-age-for-2/sub-saharan-africa/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/percentage-of-pupils-enrolled-in-primary-education-who-are-at-least-2-years-over-age-for-2/sub-saharan-africa/">Percentage of pupils enrolled in primary education who are at least 2 in Sub-Saharan Africa</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Percentage of pupils enrolled in primary education who are at least 2 years over-age for their current grade, female (%)
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
192 places, 2,312 data points, 1997–2020
Last refreshed

Percentage of pupils in primary education who are at least 2 years above the intended age for their grade. The intended age for a given grade is the age at which pupils would enter the grade if they had started school at the official primary entrance age, had studied full-time and had progressed without repeating or skipping a grade. A low value of this indicator will show that the majority of students start school on time and progress with minimum levels of grade repetition. Late school entry and significant grade repetition exacerbate over-age progression and should be discouraged as both are associated with lower levels of student learning achievement. For more information, consult the UNESCO Institute of Statistics website: http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/