South Africa (2023)
23.5
% gross enrollment ratio
-0.2pp YoY
YoY Change
-0.2pp
percentage points
Trend
down
Series length
21
years of data

Data

South Africa Tertiary Education Enrollment Rate (2023) — source data. World Bank.
Year % gross enrollment ratio Change
2023 23.5 -0.2pp
2022 23.7 +1.4pp
2021 22.3 -0.3pp
2020 22.6 +0.4pp
2019 22.2 -0.2pp
2018 22.4 +1.3pp
2017 21.1 +2.2pp
2016 18.9 -0.1pp
2015 19 +0.5pp
2014 18.5 -0.1pp
2013 18.6 +0.7pp
2012 17.9 +2.2pp
1994 15.7 +2.1pp
1993 13.6 +1.3pp
1992 12.3 +0.5pp
1991 11.8 +0.4pp
1990 11.4 +0.1pp
1989 11.3 +0.8pp
1988 10.5 +6.1pp
1973 4.4 +0.4pp

About this Dataset

South Africa recorded 23.5 % gross enrollment ratio in 2023. The latest change was -0.2pp. Across 1970–2023 the series ranges from 4 in 1970 to 23.7 in 2022.

This page tracks the gross tertiary education enrollment ratio in South Africa from 1990 to present. Tertiary enrollment reflects the depth of the educated workforce and talent pipeline for knowledge-economy sectors.

Data sourced from World Bank via Open Data API. Values use World Bank standardised methodology intended for cross-country comparison.

Frequently Asked Questions

This page tracks the gross tertiary education enrollment ratio in South Africa from 1990 to present. Tertiary enrollment reflects the depth of the educated workforce and talent pipeline for knowledge-economy sectors. It is published by World Bank and updated annually.

The most recent observation covers 2023. World Bank typically publishes this series with a lag of several months after the reference period. The series runs 1970–2023 (21 observations).

The series peaked at 23.7 % gross enrollment ratio in 2022 and reached its lowest recorded value of 4 in 1970. The latest reading of 23.5 in 2023 represents a change of -0.2pp.