South Asia - Primary completion rate, total (% of relevant age group)

Primary completion rate, total (% of relevant age group) in South Asia was 92.24 as of 2020. Its highest value over the past 50 years was 92.46 in 2015, while its lowest value was 41.87 in 1970.

Definition: Primary completion rate, or gross intake ratio to the last grade of primary education, is the number of new entrants (enrollments minus repeaters) in the last grade of primary education, regardless of age, divided by the population at the entrance age for the last grade of primary education. Data limitations preclude adjusting for students who drop out during the final year of primary education.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (http://uis.unesco.org/)

See also:

Year Value
1970 41.87
1971 42.03
1972 42.70
1973 43.16
1974 43.62
1975 44.86
1976 45.66
1977 45.99
1978 47.47
1979 48.75
1980 50.09
1981 51.48
1982 52.86
1983 54.29
1984 55.76
1985 57.25
1986 58.75
1987 60.24
1988 61.53
1989 62.61
1990 63.56
1991 64.52
1992 65.48
1993 66.36
1994 67.28
1995 68.19
1996 67.79
1997 67.41
1998 67.03
1999 66.70
2000 69.02
2001 69.70
2002 72.50
2003 75.88
2004 78.16
2005 80.53
2006 82.39
2007 84.34
2008 86.18
2009 87.69
2010 87.39
2011 86.96
2012 89.02
2013 90.63
2014 92.09
2015 92.46
2016 91.90
2017 91.27
2018 90.05
2019 90.22
2020 92.24

Development Relevance: The World Bank and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics jointly developed the primary completion rate indicator. Increasingly used as a core indicator of an education system's performance, it reflects an education system's coverage and the educational attainment of students.

Limitations and Exceptions: Data limitations preclude adjusting for students who drop out during the final year of primary education. Thus this rate is a proxy that should be taken as an upper estimate of the actual primary completion rate. There are many reasons why the primary completion rate can exceed 100 percent. The numerator may include late entrants and overage children who have repeated one or more grades of primary education as well as children who entered school early, while the denominator is the number of children at the entrance age for the last grade of primary education.

Other Notes: Data retrieved via API in March 2019. For detailed information on the observation level (e.g. National Estimation, UIS Estimation, or Category not applicable), please visit UIS.Stat (http://data.uis.unesco.org/).

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Primary completion rate is calculated by dividing the number of new entrants (enrollment minus repeaters) in the last grade of primary education, regardless of age, by the population at the entrance age for the last grade of primary education and multiplying by 100. Data on education are collected by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics from official responses to its annual education survey. All the data are mapped to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) to ensure the comparability of education programs at the international level. The current version was formally adopted by UNESCO Member States in 2011. Population data are drawn from the United Nations Population Division. Using a single source for population data standardizes definitions, estimations, and interpolation methods, ensuring a consistent methodology across countries and minimizing potential enumeration problems in national censuses. The reference years reflect the school year for which the data are presented. In some countries the school year spans two calendar years (for example, from September 2010 to June 2011); in these cases the reference year refers to the year in which the school year ended (2011 in the example).

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Education Indicators

Sub-Topic: Outcomes