
Photo: Serge Melki · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale
Topic 04 of 18 · Country Index 2026
Aruba: Education & Knowledge
How far does a country's schooling carry its children?
Aruba is placed joint 41st of 198 countries on education & knowledge in the Country Index 2026, from 2 of its 4 key statistics. Readings behind it: Out-of-School Rate, Primary 1.755 (2024); Participation in Organised Learning One Year Before Primary 96.09 (2024).
Share
Education & Knowledge
joint41st
of 198 countries placed
Placed from 2 of 4 key statistics
Not placed in the Country Index 2026 overall: measured on too few topics.
- 1.755Out-of-School Rate, Primary, 2024Out-of-school rate, primary age (%)
- 96.09Participation in Organised Learning One Year Before Primary, 2024Children one year before primary entry age in organised learning (%)
- —Upper Secondary Completion Rate, 2025No reading for this country
- —Government Spending on Education, 2023No reading for this country
01The evidence
The 4 key statistics that decide it
Only these place Aruba on education & knowledge — one vote each. Every value is the publisher’s own, read at the edition the Country Index 2026 used — or, for a survey-based key, each country’s latest reading; the grey ticks are every other country it was compared with, lowest on the left.
Key 1 of 4
Out-of-School Rate, Primary
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)
Why it is a key: Primary-age children who are not in school at all: the floor of an education system.
Latest reading per country, 2014–2024 · Aruba’s is from 2014 · CC BY-SA 4.0
1.755
Out-of-school rate, primary age (%)
Lower is better
Aruba: 1.755. Across the 192 countries at their latest reading, values run from 0.004 (United Arab Emirates) to 65.6 (Equatorial Guinea); the world median is 3.691.
- World median
- 3.691
- Best in Caribbean
- 0.133 Turks and Caicos Islands
Each grey tick is one of 192 countries at its latest reading, 2014–2024.
Key 2 of 4
Participation in Organised Learning One Year Before Primary
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)
Why it is a key: Whether children take part in organised learning in the year before primary school — whether an education system reaches them before it starts.
Latest reading per country, 2014–2024 · Aruba’s is from 2014 · CC BY-SA 4.0
96.09
Children one year before primary entry age in organised learning (%)
Higher is better
Aruba: 96.09. Across the 187 countries at their latest reading, values run from 3.411 (Yemen) to 100 (United Arab Emirates); the world median is 85.9.
- World median
- 85.9
- Best in Caribbean
- 98.36 Turks and Caicos Islands
Each grey tick is one of 187 countries at its latest reading, 2014–2024.
Key 3 of 4
Upper Secondary Completion Rate
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)
Why it is a key: How far a schooling system carries the young people who get through primary — the only key here that measures anything past childhood.
2025 edition · data for 2025 · CC BY-SA 4.0
No reading
Upper secondary completion rate (%)
Higher is better
UIS publishes no 2025 figure for Aruba, so the standing rests on the other keys.
Across the 164 countries in this edition, values run from 2.13 (South Sudan) to 99.27 (South Korea); the world median is 64.87.
- World median
- 64.87
- Best in Caribbean
- 95.71 Barbados
Each grey tick is one of 164 countries in the 2025 edition.
Key 4 of 4
Government Spending on Education
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)
Why it is a key: What a state chooses to spend on education, as a share of its economy — the input, where the other two keys measure reach.
2023 edition · data for 2023 · CC BY-SA 4.0
No reading
Government expenditure on education (% of GDP)
Higher is better
UIS publishes no 2023 figure for Aruba, so the standing rests on the other keys.
Across the 123 countries in this edition, values run from 0 (Somalia) to 16.39 (Kiribati); the world median is 3.709.
- World median
- 3.709
- Best in Caribbean
- 7.19 Montserrat
Each grey tick is one of 123 countries in the 2023 edition.
02Over time
Which way Aruba is moving
Each key’s published value, edition by edition, beside the world median. The Country Index 2026 is the first edition of the standing, so the standing itself has no history to chart yet.
Out-of-School Rate, Primary
Out-of-school rate, primary age (%) · lower is better
ArubaWorld median
Aruba fell from 3.291 in 2000 to 1.755 in 2014; the world median went from 8.642 to 3.904.
Every year’s figures
Year Aruba World median 2024 — 3.691 2023 — 3.393 2022 — 3.002 2021 — 3.330 2020 — 2.678 2019 — 2.758 2018 — 2.439 2017 — 2.907 2016 — 2.954 2015 — 3.052 2014 1.76 3.904 2013 — 3.413 2012 — 3.408 2011 — 3.626 2010 — 3.491 2009 0.86 3.577 2008 2.63 3.878 2007 3.47 4.029 2006 1.65 4.338 2005 0.54 4.571 2004 2.04 3.791 2003 2.76 4.412 2002 1.94 4.144 2001 0.52 4.051 2000 3.29 8.642 Participation in Organised Learning One Year Before Primary
Children one year before primary entry age in organised learning (%) · higher is better
ArubaWorld median
Aruba fell from 97.09 in 2000 to 96.09 in 2014; the world median went from 66.32 to 89.17.
Every year’s figures
Year Aruba World median 2024 — 85.9 2023 — 87.6 2022 — 87.7 2021 — 87.0 2020 — 88.3 2019 — 88.8 2018 — 89.6 2017 — 87.4 2016 — 87.9 2015 — 88.2 2014 96.1 89.2 2013 94.7 88.0 2012 — 85.4 2011 — 86.2 2010 — 86.1 2009 90.1 84.8 2008 — 85.8 2007 — 86.7 2006 88.9 84.0 2005 94.3 82.2 2004 95.3 81.8 2003 98.9 78.3 2002 97.4 80.0 2001 95.6 80.8 2000 97.1 66.3 Government Spending on Education
Government expenditure on education (% of GDP) · higher is better
ArubaWorld median
Aruba fell from 4.715 in 2000 to 3.619 in 2021; the world median went from 3.886 to 4.261.
Every year’s figures
Year Aruba World median 2023 — 3.7092 2022 — 4.0570 2021 3.62 4.2611 2020 — 4.4056 2019 4.44 4.1407 2018 4.55 4.2159 2017 4.46 4.1401 2016 5.49 4.2342 2015 5.89 4.2386 2014 5.85 4.2005 2013 6.44 4.3493 2012 6.35 4.0348 2011 5.91 3.9987 2010 6.75 4.1396 2009 5.80 4.6638 2008 4.83 4.4226 2007 4.70 4.1717 2006 — 4.0593 2005 4.62 4.0557 2004 4.36 3.9745 2003 — 4.1595 2002 4.87 4.0173 2001 4.80 4.1002 2000 4.71 3.8861
03In context
Aruba beside its neighbours
A position reads best beside the countries around it. Every position below is a place among all 198 countries on education & knowledge, never a place within the region.
Aruba and Caribbean
Aruba has no land border, so the table compares it with its sub-region. The standing is each country’s place among all 198 placed on the topic; the other columns are the publishers’ own values, read at the edition the standing used.
| Country | Standing | Out-of-School Rate, PrimaryOut-of-school rate, primary age (%) | Participation in Organised Learning One Year Before PrimaryChildren one year before primary entry age in organised learning (%) | Upper Secondary Completion RateUpper secondary completion rate (%) | Government Spending on EducationGovernment expenditure on education (% of GDP) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11th | 0.59 | 98.04 | — | 6.4583 | |
| =41st | 1.755 | 96.09 | — | — | |
| 43rd | 4.341 | 94.69 | 92 | 5.6545 | |
| =48th | 0.133 | 98.36 | — | 2.6877 | |
| 50th | 3.952 | 98.03 | — | 4.6942 | |
| 69th | 4.684 | 97.06 | 74.13 | — | |
| 86th | 1.711 | 94.08 | — | 3.1051 | |
| 93rd | 7.164 | 96.69 | 84.85 | 3.2336 | |
| 96th | 6.686 | 72.92 | — | 7.1902 | |
| 97th | 7.012 | 91.73 | 94.25 | 2.7421 | |
| 98th | 4.928 | 93.47 | 64.68 | 3.7606 | |
| 107th | 17.6 | 78.17 | 95.71 | 3.7754 | |
| 110th | 4.941 | 74.96 | — | 5.1254 | |
| 118th | 13.25 | 89.02 | — | 4.2690 | |
| =123rd | 6.781 | — | — | 3.9236 | |
| 128th | 27.89 | 77.65 | — | 5.3007 | |
| 130th | 5.169 | 96.16 | — | 1.5702 | |
| 161st | 26.97 | 82.84 | — | 3.1728 | |
| =176th | 15.88 | 47.25 | — | 2.7419 | |
| 181st | — | 76.02 | 18.48 | 0.9646 | |
| not placed | — | 89.69 | — | — | |
| not placed | — | — | — | 3.4973 | |
| not placed | — | — | — | — | |
| not placed | — | — | — | — |
“—” means the publisher gives no reading for that country in that edition. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed.
Across Caribbean
Every country in the sub-region, by its place among all 198.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines11th
Aruba=41st
Jamaica43rd
Turks and Caicos Islands=48th
Dominica50th
Cuba69th
Antigua and Barbuda86th
Trinidad and Tobago93rd
Montserrat96th
Saint Lucia97th
Dominican Republic98th
Barbados107th
Grenada110th
Puerto Rico118th
Sint Maarten=123rd
Curaçao128th
Cayman Islands130th
British Virgin Islands161st
Bahamas=176th
Haiti181st
Anguillanot placed
Saint Kitts and Nevisnot placed
Saint Martinnot placed
United States Virgin Islandsnot placed
Placed either side on education & knowledge
The countries immediately above and below Aruba in the topic’s list.
04Context, no vote
Where Aruba is ahead of the world, and behind
12 more statistics filed under education & knowledge, published in full and deliberately given no vote in the standing. Select a row for the publisher, the rank and the links.
Ahead of the world median6
Statistics on which Aruba does better than the middle country measured.
Secondary School EnrolmentUIS · 2024 · world median 93.19124.3893.19▼ Worsened since 2018
Aruba: 124.38 · world median 93.19 · Gross secondary enrolment ratio (%). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 19.87 to 158.55; higher is better.
Position 7th of 109 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Youth Literacy RateUIS · 2024 · world median 98.2299.1498.22No earlier reading
Aruba: 99.14 · world median 98.22 · 15–24 year-olds who can read and write (%). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 36.7 to 100; higher is better.
Adult Literacy RateUIS · 2024 · world median 93.9996.8293.99No earlier reading
Aruba: 96.82 · world median 93.99 · Adults 15+ who can read and write (%). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 26.83 to 100; higher is better.
Position 61st of 172 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Inbound Mobility Rate, TertiaryUIS · 2024 · world median 5.4947.1515.494▼ Worsened since 2014
Aruba: 7.151 · world median 5.494 · Inbound mobility rate, tertiary (%). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 87.12; higher is better.
Position 32nd of 75 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Upper Secondary AttainmentUIS · 2023 · world median 65.7667.8965.76▲ Improved since 2000
Aruba: 67.89 · world median 65.76 · Adults 25+ who completed upper secondary or higher (%). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 5.26 to 97.89; higher is better.
Position 45th of 95 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Gender Parity Index, Tertiary EnrolmentUIS · 2024 · world median 1.2441.5681.244▼ Worsened since 2014
Aruba: 1.568 · world median 1.244 · Adjusted gender parity index, tertiary gross enrolment (1 = parity). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0.74 to 1.83; higher is better.
Position 91st of 95 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Behind the world median4
Statistics on which Aruba does worse than the middle country measured.
Bachelor's or Higher AttainmentUIS · 2023 · world median 19.8619.619.86No earlier reading
Aruba: 19.6 · world median 19.86 · Adults 25+ who completed a bachelor's degree or higher (%). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 1.135 to 52.72; higher is better.
Position 46th of 90 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Primary Schools with Internet for TeachingUIS · 2024 · world median 98.6697.6298.66No earlier reading
Aruba: 97.62 · world median 98.66 · Primary schools with internet access for teaching (%). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 100; higher is better.
School Life ExpectancyUIS · 2024 · world median 14.5913.5214.59▼ Worsened since 2014
Aruba: 13.52 · world median 14.59 · School life expectancy, primary to tertiary (years). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 7.478 to 21.01; higher is better.
Position 53rd of 77 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Tertiary Enrolment RatioUIS · 2024 · world median 52.7714.0752.77▼ Worsened since 2014
Aruba: 14.07 · world median 52.77 · Gross enrolment ratio, tertiary (%). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 2.566 to 141.86; higher is better.
Position 82nd of 95 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Level with the median, or no median to compare1
Primary Schools with ElectricityUIS · 2024 · world median 100100100No earlier reading
Aruba: 100 · world median 100 · Primary schools with access to electricity (%). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 1.246 to 100; higher is better.
No better end1
These describe the shape of a country — more is not better or worse, only different — so they are never ahead or behind.
Scholarly ArticlesOurResearch · 2025 · world median 2,240152,240Moved since 2022
Aruba: 15 · world median 2,240 · Articles with at least one author at an institution in the country (full counting). OpenAlex (OurResearch), 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 1 to 1,094,890.
No current reading for Aruba
Academic Freedom Index, Expected Years of Schooling, Female Share of Researchers, Female Share of STEM Graduates (last 2016), Government Funding per Primary Student (last 2014), Government Spending on Education (last 2021), Harmonized Test Scores, Intergenerational Persistence in Education, Learning Poverty, Learning-Adjusted Years of School, Lower Secondary Completion Rate, Mean Years of Schooling, Minimum Proficiency in Mathematics, End of Lower Secondary, Minimum Proficiency in Mathematics, End of Primary, Minimum Proficiency in Reading, End of Lower Secondary, Minimum Proficiency in Reading, End of Primary, Nobel Prize Laureates by Country of Birth, Out-of-School Rate, Lower Secondary Age (last 2009), Out-of-School Rate, Primary (last 2014), Outbound Mobility Ratio, Tertiary (last 2016), Participation in Organised Learning One Year Before Primary (last 2014), PISA Mathematics Performance, PISA Reading Performance, PISA Science Performance, Pre-Primary Net Enrolment Rate (last 2014), Primary Completion Rate, Pupils per Qualified Teacher, Primary, Qualified Teachers in Primary Education (last 2012), Research and Development Spending, Researchers per Million Inhabitants, Share of Graduates from ICT Programmes (last 2016), Trust in Scientists, Upper Secondary Completion Rate and Wealth Parity Index, Lower Secondary Completion. Listed rather than hidden, so the page can be checked against it.
05Country Index 2026
Education & Knowledge among Aruba’s 3 topics
Education & Knowledge is Aruba’s best-placed topic of 3. Strongest first; each marker sits at the position divided by that topic’s field, so fields of different sizes compare fairly.
- Education & Knowledgejoint 41st of 1982/4 keys
- Energy113th of 1652/3 keys
- Mobility & Trade134th of 1772/4 keys
No standing on Governance & Institutions, Economy & Innovation, Work & Labour, Health & Wellbeing, Development & Human Capital, Environment & Sustainability, Gender & Equality, Democracy & Civil Liberties, Peace & Security, Risk & Resilience, Food & Agriculture, Poverty & Inequality, Digital & Technology: too few of those topics’ key statistics are published for this country.
06The top of the list
Who leads on education & knowledge
The three countries placed highest of 198, and the leaders Aruba can most readily be measured against.
1United Arab Emirates
Western Asia
1st of 198 · 2 of 4 keys
Photo: Unknown author · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
2Greece
Southern Europe
2nd of 198 · 3 of 4 keys
Photo: User:Ggia derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
3Poland
Eastern Europe
3rd of 198 · 3 of 4 keys
Photo: Ralf Lotys (Sicherlich) · CC BY 3.0, greyscale
Placed highest nearby
Highest placed on all 4 keys
Moldova7th4/4 keys
Highest in Americas
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines11th3/4 keys
This page
Aruba=41st2/4 keys
Positions out of 198 placed on the topic. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed, and the top of the list is often held on fewer of them.
07Questions
Aruba on education & knowledge: questions answered
Every answer is built from the numbers on this page, so none can say something the page does not.
How does Aruba rank on education & knowledge?
Aruba is placed joint 41st of 198 countries on Education & Knowledge in the Country Index 2026, from 2 of its 4 key statistics (Out-of-School Rate, Primary and Participation in Organised Learning One Year Before Primary). The position is this site’s ordering of published statistics, not a rank any publisher printed.
What is the latest Out-of-School Rate, Primary figure for Aruba?
1.755 in 2024 (out-of-school rate, primary age (%)), according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). The world median in the same edition was 3.691.
What is the latest Participation in Organised Learning One Year Before Primary figure for Aruba?
96.09 in 2024 (children one year before primary entry age in organised learning (%)), according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). The world median in the same edition was 85.9.
How have Aruba’s education & knowledge figures changed?
Out-of-School Rate, Primary fell from 3.291 in 2000 to 1.755 in 2014; Participation in Organised Learning One Year Before Primary fell from 97.09 in 2000 to 96.09 in 2014; Government Spending on Education fell from 4.715 in 2000 to 3.619 in 2021.
Which education & knowledge statistics are missing for Aruba?
No current reading is published for Aruba on Academic Freedom Index, Expected Years of Schooling, Female Share of Researchers, Female Share of STEM Graduates, Government Funding per Primary Student, Government Spending on Education, Harmonized Test Scores, Intergenerational Persistence in Education, Learning Poverty, Learning-Adjusted Years of School, Lower Secondary Completion Rate, Mean Years of Schooling, Minimum Proficiency in Mathematics, End of Lower Secondary, Minimum Proficiency in Mathematics, End of Primary, Minimum Proficiency in Reading, End of Lower Secondary, Minimum Proficiency in Reading, End of Primary, Nobel Prize Laureates by Country of Birth, Out-of-School Rate, Lower Secondary Age, Out-of-School Rate, Primary, Outbound Mobility Ratio, Tertiary, Participation in Organised Learning One Year Before Primary, PISA Mathematics Performance, PISA Reading Performance, PISA Science Performance, Pre-Primary Net Enrolment Rate, Primary Completion Rate, Pupils per Qualified Teacher, Primary, Qualified Teachers in Primary Education, Research and Development Spending, Researchers per Million Inhabitants, Share of Graduates from ICT Programmes, Trust in Scientists, Upper Secondary Completion Rate and Wealth Parity Index, Lower Secondary Completion. They are listed rather than hidden, so the evidence on the page can be checked against it.
08Keep reading
Explore further
Aruba, topic by topic
Nearby, on education & knowledge
The key statistics, for every country
09Method
Method, sources and how to cite
What this topic does not measure
How much children actually learn is only partly covered. International test scores exist for a limited group of countries, and they are published here as context rather than used as a key, because a key must describe most of the world. Universities, research, and youth and adult literacy also appear as context.
How the Education & Knowledge standing is decided, step by step
A standing is a place in a list, not a mark out of anything. This one is part of the Country Index 2026, and it is worked out like this.
- A few key indicators decide it; the rest are context. 4 indicators on this topic are keys and 42 are charted alongside them without a vote. That split is the point: if every statistic voted, importing five more of one kind would quietly change what the topic is about.
- Each key is read at one edition. ⚠ The keys behind this standing do not all describe the same year — they run from 2023 to 2025, because publishers release on their own schedules. Read the standing as “how this country places now”, not as a snapshot of one year.
- Every country’s published value is turned into a place within that one key’s own field, and then expressed as a share of that field — how far down this key’s list the country sits, rather than how many countries are above it. Keys where a higher published number is worse (terrorism, hunger, disaster risk) are turned round first, so the good end is always the same end.
- Dividing by the field first is the whole reason this works. A place carries the size of its list inside it: 22nd of 44 and 108th of 215 are the same showing, and averaging the numbers 22 and 108 says loudly that they are not. Fields on this site run from about 44 countries to about 215, so averaging raw places would reward a country for happening to be measured in small ones. Dividing each place by its own field removes the size and leaves only the showing.
- The shares are averaged, plainly. One key, one vote — no key is weighted above another, because any weighting would be this site’s opinion presented as a measurement. Countries are then put in order by that average, and the average itself is never published. It is our arithmetic with nothing anchoring it, so printing it would invite it to be read as a measurement somebody made. The position it produces, the band, and the keys it was built from are all published instead — every one of them checkable against the tables on this page.
- A country needs 2 of this topic’s 4 keys — half, rounded up, and never fewer than 2. A standing built from one reading, printed beside one built from four, is two different things sharing a column heading. 198 countries clear the bar here.
- A key has to earn its vote every edition. It must measure at least 120 countries (below that it starts measuring who was surveyed rather than the world), it must not have more than 10% of its field tied at either end, and it must not repeat another key in the same topic — Spearman correlation above 0.92 counts as repeating. A topic needs at least 2 surviving keys to place anyone at all; this one has 4.
- A standing is relative, and the grouping is ours. It says where a country places against the others measured alongside it, so it moves when they move. The publishers listed on this page did not agree to be read together, and each measures its subject its own way: the underlying numbers are theirs, the ordering on top is this site’s — the same method as the rest of the Country Index, applied to one subject instead of all of them.
The key statistics and their licences
- Out-of-School Rate, Primary — UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), CC BY-SA 4.0
- Participation in Organised Learning One Year Before Primary — UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), CC BY-SA 4.0
- Upper Secondary Completion Rate — UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), CC BY-SA 4.0
- Government Spending on Education — UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), CC BY-SA 4.0
The other 12 statistics on this page come from 2 publishers, each named beside its numbers, with every edition and licence on the datasets pages.
The standing itself is part of the Country Index 2026, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photographs
Aruba’s banner and the countries placed highest, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Aruba (banner) — Serge Melki, CC BY 2.0
- United Arab Emirates — Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Greece — User:Ggia derivative work: Jjtkk, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Poland — Ralf Lotys (Sicherlich), CC BY 3.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Aruba: Education & Knowledge — standing and statistics, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/countries/aruba/education