Data
Gross enrolment ratio in secondary education
What you should know about this indicator
- The gross enrolment ratio counts all students enrolled at a specific education level, regardless of their age. This includes students who are younger or older than the official age range because they started school early, started late, or repeated grades.
- It measures enrolment at a given level by dividing the total number of students—of any age—by the size of the age group officially assigned to that level. For instance, primary enrolment counts everyone enrolled, even outside ages 6–11, but compares it only to the 6–11 population.
- Values can exceed 100% when students repeat grades or start late. For instance, primary school enrolment might include 12- or 13-year-olds who started late or repeated grades, pushing the ratio above 100%.
- A value of 100% does not guarantee that all children in the official age group are enrolled in school; some may be out of school entirely, but the ratio appears high due to older students being counted in the total.
- Values much lower than 100% indicate that many children of the official age are not enrolled at the expected education level - they may be out of school entirely, enrolled at a different level, or have never started school.
- Values much higher than 100% can indicate educational challenges such as high grade repetition rates, late school entry, or inefficient progression through the system.
- The data comes from administrative records such as school enrolment reports, combined with population estimates typically sourced from the United Nations or national statistical offices.
Gross enrolment ratio in secondary education
Number of children of any age group who are enrolled in secondary education expressed as a percentage of the total population of the official secondary school age.
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Last updated
May 1, 2025
Next expected update
May 2026
Date range
1970–2024
Unit
%
Explore charts that include this data
What you should know about this indicator
- The gross enrolment ratio counts all students enrolled at a specific education level, regardless of their age. This includes students who are younger or older than the official age range because they started school early, started late, or repeated grades.
- It measures enrolment at a given level by dividing the total number of students—of any age—by the size of the age group officially assigned to that level. For instance, primary enrolment counts everyone enrolled, even outside ages 6–11, but compares it only to the 6–11 population.
- Values can exceed 100% when students repeat grades or start late. For instance, primary school enrolment might include 12- or 13-year-olds who started late or repeated grades, pushing the ratio above 100%.
- A value of 100% does not guarantee that all children in the official age group are enrolled in school; some may be out of school entirely, but the ratio appears high due to older students being counted in the total.
- Values much lower than 100% indicate that many children of the official age are not enrolled at the expected education level - they may be out of school entirely, enrolled at a different level, or have never started school.
- Values much higher than 100% can indicate educational challenges such as high grade repetition rates, late school entry, or inefficient progression through the system.
- The data comes from administrative records such as school enrolment reports, combined with population estimates typically sourced from the United Nations or national statistical offices.
Gross enrolment ratio in secondary education
Number of children of any age group who are enrolled in secondary education expressed as a percentage of the total population of the official secondary school age.
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Last updated
May 1, 2025
Next expected update
May 2026
Date range
1970–2024
Unit
%
Sources and processing
This data is based on the following sources
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Citations
How to cite this page
To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:
“Data Page: Gross enrolment ratio in secondary education”, part of the following publication: Hannah Ritchie, Veronika Samborska, Natasha Ahuja, Esteban Ortiz-Ospina, and Max Roser (2023) - “Global Education”. Data adapted from UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20250909-093708/grapher/gross-enrollment-ratio-in-secondary-education.html [online resource] (archived on September 9, 2025).How to cite this data
In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in DataFull citation
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. “Gross enrolment ratio in secondary education” [dataset]. UNESCO Institute for Statistics, “UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) - Education” [original data]. Retrieved September 18, 2025 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20250909-093708/grapher/gross-enrollment-ratio-in-secondary-education.html (archived on September 9, 2025).