World data · 189 countries · updated October 2026

Secondary school completion rate by country

The percentage of young people completing lower secondary education in 189 countries, ranked — school as a legal requirement against school as a finished thing.

The short answer

Monaco leads the 189 countries ranked here on secondary school completion at 148%, followed by St Kitts and Nevis at 120% and Turks and Caicos Islands at 117%. The median country is St Lucia at 83%, against a world average of 60%.

#1 148% Monaco Europe & Central Asia #2 120% St Kitts and Nevis Latin America #3 117% Turks and Caicos Islands Latin America Median 83% St Lucia The middle of 189

World 60% World average Population-weighted

What this measures

The share of the relevant age group completing lower secondary education, from UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

What it does not

Completion is not attainment. A completed year of school in one system is not equivalent to a completed year in another, and this figure says nothing about what was learned.

The bottom of the table

Central African Republic 9.0%

Chad 18%

Mozambique 18%

Equatorial Guinea 19%

Gabon 20%

Bars are scaled across the full observed range (9.0% to 148%), not to 100%, so the real spread is visible.

How the values are spread

Where the 189 countries fall

The range from 9.0% to 148% is split into 10 equal bands, and each bar counts the countries in one band.

Number of countries in each band of secondary school completion
Band	Countries	Including
9% to 23%	9	Tanzania, Afghanistan, South Sudan and 6 more
23% to 37%	17	Guinea-Bissau, Cameroon, Guatemala and 14 more
37% to 51%	20	Mauritania, Laos, Ghana and 17 more
51% to 65%	11	Bolivia, Gambia, Costa Rica and 8 more
65% to 79%	24	Turkey, Romania, Uruguay and 21 more
79% to 92%	40	Palau, Poland, Netherlands and 37 more
92% to 106%	61	Antigua and Barbuda, Brunei, United Arab Emirates and 58 more
106% to 120%	6	St Kitts and Nevis, Turks and Caicos Islands, Marshall Islands and 3 more
120% to 134%	0	—
134% to 148%	1	Monaco

How this is built: each band is one tenth of the gap between the lowest and highest value; a country is counted in the band its value falls in, and the top band includes the highest value. Countries with no comparable figure are left out. Chart drawn with Apache ECharts.

The full ranking

All 194 countries

Click any column heading to re-sort. Type to filter, or pick a region. Every country name links to its full profile.

194 countries shown · 5 with no comparable figure

Secondary school completion rate by country, ranked. Column headings re-sort the table.
Rank	Country	Secondary school completion	Region	Gen Alpha
#1	Monaco	148%	Europe & Central Asia	5k
#2	St Kitts and Nevis	120%	Latin America	9k
#3	Turks and Caicos Islands	117%	Latin America	8k
#4	Marshall Islands	114%	Oceania	12k
#5	Gibraltar	110%	Europe & Central Asia	7k
#6	St Vincent and the Grenadines	110%	Latin America	21k
#7	Aruba	107%	Latin America	18k
#8	Antigua and Barbuda	106%	Latin America	17k
#9	Brunei	105%	East Asia & Pacific	97k
#10	United Arab Emirates	104%	Middle East & North Africa	2m
#11	Moldova	104%	Europe & Central Asia	578k
#12	Albania	104%	Europe & Central Asia	457k
#13	Tuvalu	103%	Oceania	3k
#14	Singapore	102%	East Asia & Pacific	690k
#15	Portugal	101%	Europe & Central Asia	1m
#16	Belarus	101%	Europe & Central Asia	1m
#17	Cyprus	101%	Europe & Central Asia	222k
#18	Bahrain	100%	Middle East & North Africa	309k
#19	Croatia	100%	Europe & Central Asia	524k
#20	Luxembourg	100%	Europe & Central Asia	108k
#21	Tonga	99%	Oceania	36k
#22	Denmark	99%	Europe & Central Asia	937k
#23	Lithuania	99%	Europe & Central Asia	406k
#24	Israel	98%	Middle East & North Africa	3m
#25	South Korea	98%	East Asia & Pacific	6m
#26	Nauru	98%	Oceania	5k
#27	Uzbekistan	98%	Europe & Central Asia	12m
#28	Finland	98%	Europe & Central Asia	806k
#29	Armenia	98%	Europe & Central Asia	557k
#30	Estonia	98%	Europe & Central Asia	203k
#31	Iceland	98%	Europe & Central Asia	70k
#32	Malta	97%	Middle East & North Africa	71k
#33	Japan	97%	East Asia & Pacific	14m
#34	Samoa	97%	Oceania	84k
#35	Kazakhstan	97%	Europe & Central Asia	6m
#36	Montenegro	97%	Europe & Central Asia	112k
#37	Trinidad and Tobago	97%	Latin America	265k
#38	Barbados	97%	Latin America	48k
#39	Cayman Islands	97%	Latin America	12k
#40	Kiribati	96%	Oceania	48k
#41	Austria	96%	Europe & Central Asia	1m
#42	Switzerland	96%	Europe & Central Asia	1m
#43	Bermuda	96%	North America	9k
#44	Oman	95%	Middle East & North Africa	1m
#45	Maldives	95%	South Asia	101k
#46	Czechia	95%	Europe & Central Asia	2m
#47	Serbia	95%	Europe & Central Asia	947k
#48	Norway	95%	Europe & Central Asia	900k
#49	Bahamas	95%	Latin America	71k
#50	Russia	94%	Europe & Central Asia	26m
#51	Germany	94%	Europe & Central Asia	12m
#52	Ukraine	94%	Europe & Central Asia	6m
#53	Sweden	94%	Europe & Central Asia	2m
#54	Greece	94%	Europe & Central Asia	1m
#55	Hungary	94%	Europe & Central Asia	1m
#56	Kyrgyzstan	94%	Europe & Central Asia	2m
#57	Bulgaria	94%	Europe & Central Asia	960k
#58	Bosnia and Herzegovina	94%	Europe & Central Asia	400k
#59	Slovenia	94%	Europe & Central Asia	306k
#60	Liechtenstein	94%	Europe & Central Asia	6k
#61	Seychelles	93%	Sub-Saharan Africa	27k
#62	Qatar	93%	Middle East & North Africa	476k
#63	Ireland	93%	Europe & Central Asia	1m
#64	Latvia	93%	Europe & Central Asia	279k
#65	North Macedonia	93%	Europe & Central Asia	298k
#66	Andorra	93%	Europe & Central Asia	10k
#67	San Marino	93%	Europe & Central Asia	4k
#68	Canada	93%	North America	6m
#69	Palau	92%	Oceania	3k
#70	Poland	92%	Europe & Central Asia	6m
#71	Netherlands	92%	Europe & Central Asia	3m
#72	Belgium	92%	Europe & Central Asia	2m
#73	United States	92%	North America	62m
#74	Jordan	91%	Middle East & North Africa	4m
#75	Palestine	91%	Middle East & North Africa	2m
#76	United Kingdom	91%	Europe & Central Asia	12m
#77	Australia	90%	Oceania	5m
#78	France	90%	Europe & Central Asia	12m
#79	Dominica	90%	Latin America	12k
#80	Mongolia	89%	East Asia & Pacific	1m
#81	Cuba	89%	Latin America	2m
#82	Grenada	89%	Latin America	22k
#83	Timor-Leste	88%	East Asia & Pacific	476k
#84	New Zealand	88%	Oceania	1m
#85	Tajikistan	88%	Europe & Central Asia	4m
#86	Spain	87%	Europe & Central Asia	6m
#87	Georgia	86%	Europe & Central Asia	780k
#88	Jamaica	86%	Latin America	518k
#89	Kuwait	85%	Middle East & North Africa	917k
#90	Italy	85%	Europe & Central Asia	7m
#91	Slovakia	85%	Europe & Central Asia	849k
#92	Chile	85%	Latin America	4m
#93	Mauritius	84%	Sub-Saharan Africa	184k
#94	Cape Verde	83%	Sub-Saharan Africa	131k
#95	St Lucia	83%	Latin America	31k
#96	Tunisia	82%	Middle East & North Africa	3m
#97	Turkmenistan	81%	Europe & Central Asia	2m
#98	Guyana	81%	Latin America	243k
#99	Iran	80%	Middle East & North Africa	18m
#100	Saudi Arabia	80%	Middle East & North Africa	9m
#101	China	80%	East Asia & Pacific	230m
#102	Malaysia	80%	East Asia & Pacific	8m
#103	Azerbaijan	80%	Europe & Central Asia	2m
#104	Dominican Republic	80%	Latin America	3m
#105	Puerto Rico	80%	Latin America	362k
#106	Algeria	79%	Middle East & North Africa	14m
#107	Panama	79%	Latin America	1m
#108	Belize	79%	Latin America	113k
#109	Turkey	78%	Middle East & North Africa	19m
#110	Romania	78%	Europe & Central Asia	3m
#111	Uruguay	78%	Latin America	605k
#112	Morocco	77%	Middle East & North Africa	10m
#113	Thailand	77%	East Asia & Pacific	11m
#114	Paraguay	76%	Latin America	2m
#115	São Tomé and Príncipe	75%	Sub-Saharan Africa	92k
#116	Sri Lanka	75%	South Asia	4m
#117	Micronesia	75%	Oceania	36k
#118	Argentina	75%	Latin America	11m
#119	Peru	75%	Latin America	8m
#120	British Virgin Islands	75%	Latin America	6k
#121	El Salvador	73%	Latin America	2m
#122	Namibia	72%	Sub-Saharan Africa	1m
#123	Vietnam	72%	East Asia & Pacific	23m
#124	Brazil	72%	Latin America	44m
#125	Philippines	70%	East Asia & Pacific	32m
#126	Ecuador	70%	Latin America	4m
#127	Eswatini	68%	Sub-Saharan Africa	419k
#128	Indonesia	68%	East Asia & Pacific	68m
#129	Colombia	68%	Latin America	11m
#130	Egypt	65%	Middle East & North Africa	34m
#131	Mexico	65%	North America	31m
#132	Nicaragua	65%	Latin America	2m
#133	Bolivia	62%	Latin America	3m
#134	Gambia	61%	Sub-Saharan Africa	1m
#135	Costa Rica	61%	Latin America	947k
#136	Venezuela	60%	Latin America	7m
#137	Togo	57%	Sub-Saharan Africa	4m
#138	Sierra Leone	57%	Sub-Saharan Africa	3m
#139	India	56%	South Asia	327m
#140	South Africa	55%	Sub-Saharan Africa	17m
#141	Zambia	55%	Sub-Saharan Africa	9m
#142	Eritrea	53%	Sub-Saharan Africa	1m
#143	Lebanon	53%	Middle East & North Africa	2m
#144	Mauritania	50%	Sub-Saharan Africa	2m
#145	Laos	49%	East Asia & Pacific	2m
#146	Ghana	48%	Sub-Saharan Africa	12m
#147	Rwanda	48%	Sub-Saharan Africa	6m
#148	Republic of the Congo	48%	Sub-Saharan Africa	3m
#149	Bangladesh	48%	South Asia	44m
#150	Sint Maarten	48%	Latin America	7k
#151	Zimbabwe	45%	Sub-Saharan Africa	7m
#152	Liberia	45%	Sub-Saharan Africa	2m
#153	Lesotho	45%	Sub-Saharan Africa	815k
#154	Iraq	45%	Middle East & North Africa	16m
#155	Yemen	45%	Middle East & North Africa	18m
#156	Comoros	44%	Sub-Saharan Africa	331k
#157	Nepal	44%	South Asia	8m
#158	Syria	43%	Middle East & North Africa	8m
#159	Kenya	42%	Sub-Saharan Africa	19m
#160	Suriname	42%	Latin America	163k
#161	Nigeria	40%	Sub-Saharan Africa	95m
#162	Myanmar	40%	East Asia & Pacific	13m
#163	Honduras	37%	Latin America	3m
#164	Guinea-Bissau	36%	Sub-Saharan Africa	881k
#165	Cameroon	35%	Sub-Saharan Africa	12m
#166	Guatemala	35%	Latin America	6m
#167	Guinea	34%	Sub-Saharan Africa	6m
#168	Pakistan	32%	South Asia	80m
#169	Madagascar	31%	Sub-Saharan Africa	13m
#170	Côte d'Ivoire	30%	Sub-Saharan Africa	12m
#171	Senegal	30%	Sub-Saharan Africa	7m
#172	Sudan	28%	Sub-Saharan Africa	19m
#173	Mali	28%	Sub-Saharan Africa	12m
#174	Burkina Faso	28%	Sub-Saharan Africa	10m
#175	Benin	28%	Sub-Saharan Africa	6m
#176	Haiti	27%	Latin America	4m
#177	DR Congo	26%	Sub-Saharan Africa	44m
#178	Uganda	25%	Sub-Saharan Africa	20m
#179	Angola	24%	Sub-Saharan Africa	15m
#180	Malawi	24%	Sub-Saharan Africa	9m
#181	Tanzania	22%	Sub-Saharan Africa	28m
#182	Afghanistan	22%	Middle East & North Africa	17m
#183	South Sudan	21%	Sub-Saharan Africa	5m
#184	Ethiopia	20%	Sub-Saharan Africa	48m
#185	Gabon	20%	Sub-Saharan Africa	959k
#186	Equatorial Guinea	19%	Sub-Saharan Africa	736k
#187	Mozambique	18%	Sub-Saharan Africa	14m
#188	Chad	18%	Sub-Saharan Africa	10m
#189	Central African Republic	9.0%	Sub-Saharan Africa	3m
—	Curaçao	Not reported	Latin America	27k
—	Djibouti	Not reported	Middle East & North Africa	345k
—	Libya	Not reported	Middle East & North Africa	2m
—	North Korea	Not reported	East Asia & Pacific	5m
—	Somalia	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	10m

Reading the table

This is the education column that actually predicts adult outcomes, and it separates the world into three groups rather than two.

At the top, South Korea (98%), Japan (97%) and Norway (95%) have effectively universal secondary completion. In the middle, a large band between 60% and 85% covers most of Latin America, South East Asia and Eastern Europe. At the bottom, Mozambique (18%), Ethiopia (20%) and Afghanistan (22%) complete secondary schooling for roughly one young person in five.

Guatemala is the entry that surprises people: about 35% completion, the lowest in the Americas, against a 33% under-15 share. A very young country with a very leaky education system is the hardest combination to fix, because the problem grows faster than the response.

Afghanistan's figure carries an additional caveat that the headline number does not show: girls' access to secondary education is severely restricted, so the single national figure conceals a split that matters more than the average.

Run the numbers yourself

Tools that use this data

Four School Systems Compared

How the same child would progress through the US, UK, Australian and South Asian…

→

Enrolment vs Completion Gap

The distance between children who start secondary school and children who finish it.

→

Frequently asked

Which country has the highest secondary completion rate?

South Korea, at about 98%, followed by Japan at 97% and Norway at 95%.

Which country has the lowest secondary completion rate?

Of the countries profiled, the Central African Republic at about 9%, followed by Mozambique and Chad at about 18%. Behind that, Ethiopia at 20% and Afghanistan at 22%.

Why is completion lower than enrolment?

Enrolment counts children who start. Completion counts those who finish. Cost, distance, early work and early marriage remove children between those two points.

How many countries are in this table?

This table ranks 189 countries with a comparable figure, out of the 194 countries profiled on AlphaBetaMinds. The countries in this table hold about 97% of the world population.

Can I reuse this data?

Yes, free of charge and commercially, with a credit to AlphaBetaMinds and a link to this page. The full dataset is also available as plain text at https://alphabetaminds.com/llms-countries.txt.

Other data tables

Generation Alpha population Generation Alpha share of population Projected Generation Beta births Under-15 population share Total fertility rate Median age Births per day School starting age Compulsory years of schooling Daily screen time, ages 8–12 Internet use Cost of raising a child to 18 Life expectancy at birth Urban population share Under-15 population change to 2040 Youth dependency ratio

Cite this table

AlphaBetaMinds (2026). Secondary school completion rate by country. Retrieved from https://alphabetaminds.com/data/secondary-completion-by-country

Download the full dataset (CSV)

Sources: UN World Population Prospects, World Bank Open Data, UNESCO Institute for Statistics, ITU. Figures are 2025–2026 estimates. Method on our methodology page.