World Bank Group · Intergenerational Persistence in Education
Educational mobility across generations by country
How much does a person’s schooling depend on their parents’ schooling?
Of the 149 countries compared in the 2017 edition, Maldives had the lowest reading, 0.12345, and Bulgaria had the highest reading, 0.66012. In the middle country the figure was 0.44656. 4 readings from before 2007 are listed but not compared.
Educational mobility across generations · the 2017 edition
Context statistic
Lowest of 149Maldives
0.1234501the 2017 edition · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the lowest end of 149 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1
2Photo: Matthias Hiltner · CC BY 2.0, greyscale
3Photo: User:Aconcagua · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
02Every measured country
Educational mobility across generations on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a lower value — the better end.
- 0.53326–0.66012
- 0.47574–0.53070
- 0.42004–0.47448
- 0.36003–0.41782
- 0.12345–0.35149
- Hatched: a reading from before 2007, listed but not compared (4)
- No reading in the 2017 edition
- Oceania
0.36884
the middle country, of 7 measured · 21 members
Tonga0.21565
Solomon Islands0.45640Lowest and highest reading in Oceania.
- Europe
0.41957
the middle country, of 38 measured · 49 members
Denmark0.17075
Bulgaria0.66012Lowest and highest reading in Europe.
- Asia
0.42903
the middle country, of 37 measured · 52 members
Maldives0.12345
Myanmar0.58597Lowest and highest reading in Asia.
- Africa
0.48868
the middle country, of 46 measured · 55 members
Mauritius0.17781
Cameroon0.60781Lowest and highest reading in Africa.
- Americas
0.50758
the middle country, of 21 measured · 48 members
Canada0.31679
Panama0.62146Lowest and highest reading in Americas.
- Every region
21 sub-regions, lowest middle country first
- Eastern Asia
0.34902
the middle country, of 5 measured · 8 members
Mongolia0.30372
China0.46088Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Northern Europe
0.35109
the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members
Denmark0.17075
Sweden0.47574Lowest and highest reading in Northern Europe.
- Western Europe
0.37962
the middle country, of 6 measured · 9 members
Germany0.30953
Austria0.48982Lowest and highest reading in Western Europe.
- South-eastern Asia
0.42903
the middle country, of 9 measured · 11 members
Philippines0.16530Myanmar0.58597Lowest and highest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Eastern Africa
0.43866
the middle country, of 14 measured · 19 members
Mauritius0.17781
Madagascar0.59585Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Southern Europe
0.44649
the middle country, of 12 measured · 17 members
Slovenia0.34121
North Macedonia0.54439Lowest and highest reading in Southern Europe.
- Western Asia
0.45132
the middle country, of 11 measured · 19 members
Cyprus0.25773
Türkiye0.50794Lowest and highest reading in Western Asia.
- Eastern Europe
0.46038
the middle country, of 10 measured · 10 members
Czechia0.38958Bulgaria0.66012Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Southern Asia
0.49869
the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members
Maldives0.12345
Bangladesh0.57649Lowest and highest reading in Southern Asia.
- Central America
0.50212
the middle country, of 7 measured · 8 members
Costa Rica0.39798Panama0.62146Lowest and highest reading in Central America.
- Middle Africa
0.51676
the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members
São Tomé and Príncipe0.21184Cameroon0.60781Lowest and highest reading in Middle Africa.
- Southern Africa
0.51733
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
South Africa0.36278
Namibia0.58554Lowest and highest reading in Southern Africa.
- South America
0.52010
the middle country, of 10 measured · 12 members
Venezuela0.39754
Bolivia0.55103Lowest and highest reading in South America.
- Western Africa
0.54937
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Cabo Verde0.29965
Mali0.60406Lowest and highest reading in Western Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
1 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia.
Australia0.24653Lowest and highest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Caribbean
2 of 24 measured — too few for a middle: Dominican Republic, Haiti.
Dominican Republic0.35149
Haiti0.52476Lowest and highest reading in Caribbean.
- Central Asia
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan0.26931
Kyrgyzstan0.40945Lowest and highest reading in Central Asia.
- Melanesia
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu.
Papua New Guinea0.35023Solomon Islands0.45640Lowest and highest reading in Melanesia.
- Northern Africa
3 of 6 measured — too few for a middle: Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia.
Tunisia0.41052
Sudan0.53326Lowest and highest reading in Northern Africa.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
Canada0.31679
United States0.41302Lowest and highest reading in Northern America.
- Polynesia
2 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Tonga, Tuvalu.
Tonga0.21565
Tuvalu0.43430Lowest and highest reading in Polynesia.
03The whole field at once
The spread
149 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 0.44656; a quarter are above 0.51760, and a quarter below 0.38453. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 153 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first — position 1 is the highest value, the way World Bank Group’s own tables read. “=” marks a position shared with another country. World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. A lower number means more mobility, and the order says nothing about how much schooling people got, only how strongly it follows their parents’. Some countries’ figures come from young adults still living with their parents rather than from all adults, and every row says which. It is mobility in education, not in income.
Showing 25 of 153 countries
Values for the 2017 edition.
05In this edition
Educational mobility across generations in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading
0.66012
Correlation between own and parents' years of schooling, born 1980–89 (0–1)
Lowest reading
0.12345
Correlation between own and parents' years of schooling, born 1980–89 (0–1)
06The measure
About educational mobility across generations
This measures how closely a person’s schooling follows their parents’: the correlation between the years of schooling of people born in the 1980s and those of their better-schooled parent. Near 0, how far a child gets in school has little to do with the family they were born into; the higher it is, the more a family’s education is passed down.
What the number is: Correlation between own and parents' years of schooling, born 1980–89 (0–1).
07Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Education & Knowledge and Poverty & Inequality, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Education & KnowledgePoverty & InequalityWhich statistics vote, and why
Moves with
Where educational mobility across generations is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Burned AreaGWIS · 148 countries in commonρ 0.44
- Refugees by Country of OriginUNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency · 147 countries in commonρ 0.43
- Child MarriageUNICEF · 105 countries in commonρ 0.43
Moves against
Where educational mobility across generations is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Anthropic AI Usage IndexAnthropic · 105 countries in commonρ −0.50
- Public Sector EmploymentWorld Bank Group · 112 countries in commonρ −0.46
- Smartphone OwnershipWorld Bank Group · 126 countries in commonρ −0.44
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 298 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
08Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
The data, edition by edition
More from World Bank Group
09Questions
Educational mobility across generations: questions and answers
Which country has the lowest educational mobility across generations?
Maldives, at 0.12345, among the 149 countries compared in the 2017 edition.
Which country has the highest educational mobility across generations?
Bulgaria, at 0.66012, among the 149 countries compared in the 2017 edition.
How many countries does the Intergenerational Persistence in Education cover?
149 in the 2017 edition, and 153 at least once across all editions.
What is the world average educational mobility across generations?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 149 compared in the 2017 edition, the figure was 0.44656.
Is this World Bank Group’s own ranking?
No. World Bank Group publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Intergenerational Persistence in Education published?
This site holds one edition, describing 2017.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From World Bank Group, under CC BY 4.0. From the World Bank’s Global Database on Intergenerational Mobility, reading the combination its own maps use: the better-schooled parent and all children. Two measures of absolute upward mobility for the same people are stored beside it. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
10Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Intergenerational Persistence in Education — World Bank Group
From the World Bank’s Global Database on Intergenerational Mobility, reading the combination its own maps use: the better-schooled parent and all children. Two measures of absolute upward mobility for the same people are stored beside it.
Newest edition
Report year 2017Data year not recorded
Cite the source as: GDIM. 2023. Global Database on Intergenerational Mobility, March 2023 release. Development Research Group, World Bank. Washington, DC: World Bank Group.
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-09-29.
How this page reads the numbers
- World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- The file gives each country’s most recent reading, so the rows are from different years. Readings from before 2007 are listed but left out of every comparison on this page.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Maldives — Steevie, CC0
- Philippines — Matthias Hiltner, CC BY 2.0
- Denmark — User:Aconcagua, CC BY-SA 3.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Educational mobility across generations by country: Intergenerational Persistence in Education, data from World Bank Group. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/intergenerational-persistence