Education · Africa ranking
Primary Completion Rate by African country
South Africa has the highest primary completion rate of any African country, at 97.6%, ahead of Botswana and Egypt.
Gross intake ratio to the last grade of primary education. 49 of 54 countries, ranked · UNESCO UIS, 2024.
Latest available year varies by country (2000–2024); each row shows its year, and values more than 5 years behind the most recent are marked ⚠.
South Africa
Botswana
EgyptBy region
Full ranking
| # | Country | Primary Completion Rate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Africa | 97.6% | |
| 2 | Botswana | 96.6% | |
| 3 | Egypt | 96.1% | |
| 4 | Algeria | 94.1% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 5 | Tunisia | 92.7% | |
| 6 | Kenya | 90.8% | |
| 7 | Zimbabwe | 88.8% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 8 | Lesotho | 87.9% | |
| 9 | Namibia | 87.4% ⚠ ’15 | |
| 10 | Sao Tome and Principe | 87.1% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 11 | Comoros | 81.5% | |
| 12 | Djibouti | 81% ⚠ ’17 | |
| 13 | Republic of the Congo | 80.3% ⚠ ’15 | |
| 14 | Eswatini | 79.7% | |
| 15 | Togo | 79.1% | |
| 16 | Ghana | 77.6% | |
| 17 | Nigeria | 77.4% | |
| 18 | Gabon | 76.1% ⚠ ’17 | |
| 19 | Tanzania | 74.5% | |
| 20 | Zambia | 74.3% | |
| 21 | Cameroon | 74% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 22 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 70% | |
| 23 | Sierra Leone | 69.4% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 24 | Morocco | 69.4% ⚠ ’10 | |
| 25 | Sudan | 65.4% ⚠ ’14 | |
| 26 | Cote d'Ivoire | 65.2% | |
| 27 | Rwanda | 62.7% | |
| 28 | Gambia | 62.3% | |
| 29 | Burkina Faso | 60.3% | |
| 30 | Mauritania | 57.9% ⚠ ’15 | |
| 31 | Angola | 55.3% | |
| 32 | Ethiopia | 54.4% | |
| 33 | Mozambique | 54.4% | |
| 34 | Senegal | 52.7% | |
| 35 | Benin | 50.4% | |
| 36 | Burundi | 50.1% ⚠ ’17 | |
| 37 | Somalia | 49.8% | |
| 38 | Madagascar | 49.7% | |
| 39 | Malawi | 49.3% | |
| 40 | Mali | 47.5% | |
| 41 | Guinea | 45.1% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 42 | Equatorial Guinea | 42.2% ⚠ ’00 | |
| 43 | Uganda | 38.7% | |
| 44 | Guinea-Bissau | 38.7% | |
| 45 | Niger | 35.8% | |
| 46 | Liberia | 30.5% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 47 | Central African Republic | 27% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 48 | Chad | 26.9% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 49 | South Sudan | 24.6% ⚠ ’10 |
Algeria
Tunisia
Kenya
Zimbabwe
Lesotho
Namibia
Sao Tome and Principe
Comoros
Djibouti
Republic of the Congo
Eswatini
Togo
Ghana
Nigeria
Gabon
Tanzania
Zambia
Cameroon
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Sierra Leone
Morocco
Sudan
Cote d'Ivoire
Rwanda
Gambia
Burkina Faso
Mauritania
Angola
Ethiopia
Mozambique
Senegal
Benin
Burundi
Somalia
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Guinea
Equatorial Guinea
Uganda
Guinea-Bissau
Niger
Liberia
Central African Republic
Chad
South SudanGet this ranking via API
One call to /v1/data returns the latest Primary Completion Rate figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=primary_completion_pct&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Cite or republish this ranking
Data: Africa API — UNESCO UIS, 2024. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.
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Drop this chart into your article or site — it stays live as the data updates. Paste the snippet anywhere HTML is allowed (a citation link is included).
Frequently asked questions
Which African country has the highest primary completion rate?
South Africa has the highest primary completion rate in Africa at 97.6% (2024), followed by Botswana and Egypt.
Which African country has the lowest primary completion rate?
South Sudan has the lowest primary completion rate of the 49 African countries with data, at 24.6% (2010).
How many African countries report Primary Completion Rate data?
49 of 54 African countries have a Primary Completion Rate figure in the Africa API, each from the latest year available for that country (which can differ between countries, here 2000–2024). Every value links to its full series with source and history.
How do I get this ranking via API?
Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=primary_completion_pct&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.
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