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In 2000, adults in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa had, on average, fewer than five years of schooling. That’s not enough to complete primary education.

But, as the chart shows, a lot of progress has been made since then. Adults older than 25 have gained more than two additional years of schooling, a 50% increase since 2000.

Latin American and East Asian countries have also made substantial gains, starting from a higher baseline.

This data is about adults. Children today can expect many more years of schooling, showing just how much progress has been made.

Of course, simply being in school isn’t enough; kids also need to learn while they’re there. And while more years of schooling generally mean more learning opportunities, it’s important to remember that millions of children in these regions still aren’t in school at all.

Discover more insights on access to basic education →

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Over the past two centuries, the global share of children enrolled in primary school has increased dramatically. In 1820, fewer than 1 in 20 children were enrolled in primary school. Today, the figure is nearly 9 out of 10.

Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, made remarkable progress for several decades, with enrollment rising from 57% in 1985 to 77% by 2010. Yet, as the chart shows, progress has stalled in the past decade, plateauing just under 80%.

In North America and Western Europe, near-universal primary school enrollment was achieved by the mid-1900s, with rates consistently above 95% since 1985.

Explore how far the world has come in expanding access to basic education and how much further we have to go →

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The chart shows the share of children at the end of lower-secondary school age — aged 12 to 15 — who meet the minimum proficiency set by UNESCO in reading comprehension. This means they can connect the main ideas across various texts, understand the author’s intentions, and draw reasoned conclusions.

Only around half of children of this age can read this well. In countries like Ireland and South Korea, more than 8 in 10 children reach this level. But in poorer countries like Senegal, Zambia, and Cambodia, fewer than 1 in 20 do.

These numbers include all children of middle school age, not just those who attend school.

Explore the most recent education data from UNESCO, now available in our updated charts →

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The chart shows the global number of children and adolescents who are not in school across primary and secondary education.

According to the most recent UNESCO data, this number has fallen from 390 million in 2000 to 244 million in 2023. That’s nearly a 40% reduction. The global population of children has grown during this time, making the decrease in out-of-school children even more significant.

Many more children are getting an opportunity to learn now than 20 years ago, but progress has stagnated in the last five years.

Historically, more girls than boys were out of school, but this gap has nearly closed. Unfortunately, the global aggregate data split by gender has not been updated by UNESCO since 2019. This makes it hard to track recent progress between boys and girls.

Explore the number of children out of school in other countries →

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In 1820, only 1 in 10 people over the age of 15 could read. Today, the corresponding global literacy rate — the share of adults aged 15 and older who can read and write — is 87%. That means more than 5 billion people can read and write today, compared to fewer than 100 million two centuries ago.

The chart shows the rising global literacy rate over time. The data combines historical estimates from academic historians with more recent statistics from UNESCO.

As we can see, widespread literacy is a recent achievement. This trend underlines a huge achievement, but it’s important to remember that there’s still much progress ahead of us. In many schools, children learn very little, and many still do not attend school.

Read more about how literacy is measured, and learn about the research that identifies low-cost ways to improve learning outcomes →

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In the 1970s, less than half of Morocco's primary-age children attended school. Today, nearly every child is in school, with enrolment rates having soared to over 99%, according to data published by UNESCO.

Though this is a remarkable achievement, there's still room for improvement in education quality. Only about a third of these students achieve basic reading comprehension by the end of primary school.

Focusing on getting children into school has been crucial. The next step is to enhance the quality of education to ensure they not only attend but also learn and thrive.

Explore the data →