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UIS · Primary Completion Rate
Primary completion rate by country
What share of children finish primary school?
5 countries shared first place of the 165 countries compared in 2025, all at 100.00%, and South Sudan last, at 7.94%. In the middle country the figure was 97.43%. Among the 164 countries measured in every edition since 1981, the middle one moved from 79.15% to 97.68%.
Part ofEducation & Knowledge
Primary completion rate · 2025
Key statistic · Education & Knowledge
5 countries share the highest value, 100.00% — no single country is named first.
012025 · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the highest end of 165 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
Highest in 2025 · shared
5 countries share the highest reading, 100.00%
No single country is named first: picking one from a shared value would be a choice the data does not make.
Lowest in 2025
- 165
South Sudan7.94% - 164
Somalia28.75% - 163
Liberia29.84%
Positions out of 165. Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
Highest on each continent
- Africa
Mauritius99.89% - Americas
United States99.99% - Asia
4 countries share 100.00%
- Europe
Germany100.00% - Oceania
Australia99.51% - Every region
02Every measured country
Primary completion rate 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 higher value — the better end.
- 7.94–75.64%
- 75.72–93.71%
- 93.86–98.77%
- 98.82–99.64%
- 99.66–100.00%
- No reading in 2025
- Europe
99.66%
the middle country, of 39 measured · 49 members
Germany100.00%2 share 97.43%
Highest and lowest reading in Europe.
- Asia
98.72%
the middle country, of 38 measured · 52 members
4 share 100.00%
Afghanistan55.44%Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Oceania
98.42%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 21 members
Australia99.51%
Papua New Guinea65.98%Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.
- Americas
97.43%
the middle country, of 29 measured · 48 members
United States99.99%
Haiti50.51%Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Africa
74.51%
the middle country, of 50 measured · 55 members
Mauritius99.89%South Sudan7.94%Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Every region
22 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- Western Europe
99.76%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Germany100.00%
Luxembourg98.62%Highest and lowest reading in Western Europe.
- Northern Europe
99.73%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members
Sweden99.95%
Iceland97.43%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Europe.
- Central Asia
99.69%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Turkmenistan99.81%
Tajikistan98.82%Highest and lowest reading in Central Asia.
- Eastern Europe
99.61%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 10 members
Czechia99.90%
Moldova98.85%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Southern Europe
99.50%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 17 members
Italy99.93%
Albania97.43%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.
- Caribbean
99.37%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 24 members
Saint Lucia99.58%Haiti50.51%Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- Western Asia
98.76%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 19 members
2 share 100.00%
Yemen74.77%Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
- South America
97.05%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 12 members
Ecuador99.50%
Venezuela88.04%Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- Northern Africa
96.35%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 6 members
Tunisia96.93%
Sudan75.64%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- South-eastern Asia
96.18%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 11 members
Malaysia99.83%
Laos70.14%Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Southern Asia
92.19%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members
Maldives99.36%Afghanistan55.44%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- Central America
91.97%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 8 members
Costa Rica98.94%
Nicaragua77.73%Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- Southern Africa
86.26%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Botswana99.02%
Lesotho79.78%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
- Middle Africa
73.56%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Republic of the Congo93.86%
Central African Republic30.82%Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- Western Africa
70.10%
the middle country, of 15 measured · 16 members
Togo87.83%Liberia29.84%Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- Eastern Africa
65.99%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 19 members
Mauritius99.89%South Sudan7.94%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
1 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia.
Australia99.51%Highest and lowest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Eastern Asia
4 of 8 measured — too few for a middle: China, Japan, Mongolia, South Korea.
2 share 100.00%
China99.02%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Melanesia
3 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu.
Fiji98.92%Papua New Guinea65.98%Highest and lowest reading in Melanesia.
- Micronesia
2 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Kiribati, Nauru.
Kiribati94.39%
Nauru89.15%Highest and lowest reading in Micronesia.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
United States99.99%
Canada99.90%Highest and lowest reading in Northern America.
- Polynesia
3 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu.
Tuvalu98.77%
Tonga98.42%Highest and lowest reading in Polynesia.
03The whole field at once
The spread
165 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 97.43%; a quarter are above 99.51%, and a quarter below 79.78%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 165 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first. “=” marks a position shared with another country. UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. Because the series is modelled, small differences between neighbouring countries are within the model’s uncertainty; large gaps are real.
Showing 25 of 165 countries
Values for 2025. The change column compares 2025 with 2024 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
051981–2025 · 45 editions
Over time
Each point is one year of UNESCO’s modelled series, which combines household surveys with administrative data to give every country a figure each year. Recent years are estimates for countries that have not surveyed lately.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 164 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 165 | 97.43% | 79.78% – 99.51% | 97.68% |
| 2024 | 164 | 97.65% | 79.48% – 99.49% | 97.65% |
| 2023 | 164 | 97.58% | 79.19% – 99.47% | 97.58% |
| 2022 | 164 | 97.45% | 78.58% – 99.45% | 97.45% |
| 2021 | 164 | 97.32% | 77.65% – 99.43% | 97.32% |
| 2020 | 164 | 97.26% | 76.67% – 99.42% | 97.26% |
| 2019 | 164 | 97.07% | 75.69% – 99.40% | 97.07% |
| 2018 | 164 | 96.81% | 74.70% – 99.37% | 96.81% |
| 2017 | 164 | 96.49% | 73.98% – 99.32% | 96.49% |
| 2016 | 164 | 96.04% | 73.47% – 99.31% | 96.04% |
| 2015 | 164 | 95.51% | 72.20% – 99.22% | 95.51% |
| 2014 | 164 | 94.90% | 71.19% – 99.18% | 94.90% |
| 2013 | 164 | 94.15% | 69.66% – 99.15% | 94.15% |
| 2012 | 164 | 93.84% | 68.13% – 99.12% | 93.84% |
| 2011 | 164 | 93.65% | 67.20% – 99.07% | 93.65% |
| 2010 | 164 | 93.44% | 65.49% – 99.06% | 93.44% |
| 2009 | 164 | 93.15% | 63.65% – 99.04% | 93.15% |
| 2008 | 164 | 92.76% | 62.51% – 99.02% | 92.76% |
| 2007 | 164 | 92.34% | 61.75% – 99.00% | 92.34% |
| 2006 | 164 | 91.93% | 59.96% – 98.98% | 91.93% |
| 2005 | 164 | 91.50% | 58.91% – 98.96% | 91.50% |
| 2004 | 164 | 90.87% | 57.23% – 98.94% | 90.87% |
| 2003 | 164 | 89.95% | 55.98% – 98.92% | 89.95% |
| 2002 | 164 | 88.72% | 54.55% – 98.90% | 88.72% |
| 2001 | 164 | 87.98% | 53.20% – 98.90% | 87.98% |
| 2000 | 164 | 87.29% | 52.19% – 98.90% | 87.29% |
| 1999 | 164 | 86.58% | 51.55% – 98.88% | 86.58% |
| 1998 | 164 | 85.74% | 50.90% – 98.87% | 85.74% |
| 1997 | 164 | 85.31% | 49.26% – 98.85% | 85.31% |
| 1996 | 164 | 84.95% | 48.61% – 98.83% | 84.95% |
| 1995 | 164 | 85.33% | 48.32% – 98.82% | 85.33% |
| 1994 | 164 | 85.90% | 47.51% – 98.81% | 85.90% |
| 1993 | 164 | 85.59% | 46.68% – 98.78% | 85.59% |
| 1992 | 164 | 84.75% | 45.92% – 98.73% | 84.75% |
| 1991 | 164 | 84.17% | 45.24% – 98.70% | 84.17% |
| 1990 | 164 | 83.03% | 44.53% – 98.67% | 83.03% |
| 1989 | 165 | 81.70% | 43.83% – 98.63% | 82.04% |
| 1988 | 165 | 81.41% | 42.83% – 98.63% | 81.48% |
| 1987 | 165 | 80.43% | 42.41% – 98.55% | 80.93% |
| 1986 | 165 | 79.40% | 42.28% – 98.54% | 80.44% |
| 1985 | 165 | 78.92% | 41.65% – 98.54% | 80.15% |
| 1984 | 165 | 78.81% | 40.64% – 98.55% | 79.67% |
| 1983 | 165 | 78.93% | 40.32% – 98.54% | 79.01% |
| 1982 | 165 | 79.00% | 39.27% – 98.54% | 79.07% |
| 1981 | 165 | 78.92% | 38.08% – 98.52% | 79.15% |
062024 → 2025
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Improved most
before → after
Rwanda69.33% → 71.86% · 139th → 139th+2.53
Niger75.07% → 77.54% · 131st → 130th+2.47
Senegal63.59% → 65.66% · 146th → 146th+2.07
Mozambique51.57% → 53.52% · 154th → 155th+1.95
Côte d’Ivoire77.02% → 78.79% · 128th → 127th+1.77
Declined most
before → after
Zambia67.41% → 67.40% · 143rd → 144th−0.01
164 countries were measured in both 2024 and 2025. The field changed from 164 to 165 countries, so a place can move for reasons that have nothing to do with the country itself.
07Across every edition
Primary completion rate in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
Reached 43 times by 5 countries — shared, so no holder is named
100.00%
Primary completion rate (%)
Lowest reading on record
4.24%
Primary completion rate (%)
Biggest improvement between editions
+4.03
50.68% → 54.71%
Biggest decline between editions
−2.47
27.00% → 24.53%
Most improved since first measured
+89.32
4.24% → 93.56%
At the top most often
26 of 45
editions, alone at the first-listed end
08By sex
Inside the number
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) also publishes separate female and male readings. The gap between them, where both exist.
Of the 165 countries with both readings, the female reading is higher in 121, the male reading in 37, and they are equal in 7. The widest gaps each way:
09The measure
About primary completion rate
The primary completion rate is the share of children who actually finish primary school — SDG indicator 4.1.2. It asks whether a school system carries a child all the way through, rather than only whether it enrols them.
What the number is: Primary completion rate (%).
What it does not measure
It counts whether children finish primary school, not how much they learned there; test scores such as PISA are the view of learning.
10Where 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
A key statistic for Education & Knowledge
“Whether children who start school actually finish it — the other three keys measure access, an early start and money, and none of them says anyone completed anything.”
- Edition used
- 2025 (data 2025)
- Countries
- 165
- Licence
- CC BY-SA 4.0
Moves with
Where primary completion rate is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Inequality-adjusted Human Development IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 155 countries in commonρ 0.89
- Human Capital IndexWorld Bank Group · 150 countries in commonρ 0.88
- GNI per Capita (PPP)World Bank Group · 94 countries in commonρ 0.87
Moves against
Where primary completion rate is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Global Multidimensional Poverty IndexOPHI · 101 countries in commonρ −0.90
- Gender Inequality IndexKeyUNDP Human Development Report Office · 156 countries in commonρ −0.87
- Coefficient of Human InequalityUNDP Human Development Report Office · 155 countries in commonρ −0.86
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 122 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
11Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
The countries at either end
12Questions
Primary completion rate: questions and answers
Which country has the highest primary completion rate?
5 countries share the highest reading, 100.00%, among the 165 compared in 2025, so no single country is named.
Which country has the lowest primary completion rate?
South Sudan, at 7.94%, among the 165 countries compared in 2025.
How many countries does the Primary Completion Rate cover?
165 in 2025. The number measured varies from 164 to 165 between editions.
What is the world average primary completion rate?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 165 compared in 2025, the figure was 97.43%.
Is this UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)’s own ranking?
No. UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) 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 Primary Completion Rate published?
This site holds 45 editions, describing 1981 to 2025.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), under CC BY-SA 4.0. From the UNESCO Institute for Statistics modelled completion series (CR.MOD.1), which replaced the directly reported figures on 2026-09-12. Female and male rates are stored beside the headline. Every edition is available on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, unrounded.
13Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Primary Completion Rate — UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)
From the UNESCO Institute for Statistics modelled completion series (CR.MOD.1), which replaced the directly reported figures on 2026-09-12. Female and male rates are stored beside the headline.
Newest edition
Report year 2025Data year 2025
Cite the source as: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. UIS Data Browser. Montreal: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0, checked 2026-09-05.
How this page reads the numbers
- UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) 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.
- 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 full note on this data
45 editions (1981–2025), 143 to 165 countries. The share of children who finish primary school — SDG indicator 4.1.2, and the one measure here of whether a schooling system carries a child all the way through rather than merely enrolling them. Female and male rates are stored beside the headline. ⚠ THE SERIES CHANGED ON 2026-09-12, from UIS's directly reported figures (CR.1) to its MODELLED estimates (CR.MOD.1), and the difference is the whole reason this indicator is now useful: the reported version covered 50 to 71 countries on a ragged calendar because household surveys do not run on one, while the model harmonises MICS, DHS and national surveys with administrative data and publishes 164–165 countries every year to 2025. UIS built that model because it says the raw survey readings are inconsistent between rounds. ⚠ MODELLED MEANS THE RECENT YEARS ARE ESTIMATES for countries that have not surveyed lately — nowcasts of an observed trend, not scenario projections, and the same kind of series as the ILO modelled unemployment estimates this site already uses. ⚠ The two versions are different measurements and are never spliced: these editions were rewritten wholesale, not appended to the old ones. ⚠ UIS ranks nobody, so no rank is stored; the POSITION on the statistics page is derived here by ordering the score and labelled as ours.
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Primary completion rate by country: Primary Completion Rate, data from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/primary-completion