Education · adults by level of schooling

How far the world's people went in school

15 of 100adults never went to school (2020)
44 of 100adults finished upper secondary or went further
2070the world’s people aged 15 to 64 are most numerous (projected)
2090the ones among them who finished upper secondary are most numerous

If the world's adults were 100 people, 15 of them never went to school, and 44 finished upper secondary school or went further. That was in 2020, when the Wittgenstein Centre counted 4.58 billion people aged 25 and over. If schooling keeps spreading at the pace it has, by 2050 it would be 8 and 64.

2020counted

2050projected

15 never went to school
7 some primary
14 finished primary
20 finished lower secondary
26 finished upper secondary
18 studied after school

How to read this: each block is the world's adults (25 and over) shrunk to 100 people, one square each, coloured by how far that person went in school: the stronger the colour, the more schooling. The numbers in the list are 2020's. The 2050 block is striped because it is a projection, not a count. projected

Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries

In plain words

What is it?

This page is about how far people went in school: the highest level each person finished. It counts adults, because most people have left school by the age of 25.

The numbers come from the Wittgenstein Centre, which counts the world's people by age, sex and schooling in 2020 and projects them forward to 2100. Its middle projection is the page's line.

Schooling is finished young and kept for life, so a country's adults change slowly, one generation at a time. That is why the page keeps comparing the young with the old.

Why it matters to you

Your generation. Of every 100 women aged 25–29, 11.4 never went to school; aged 60–64, 21.5.
Work. People of working age peak in 2070, but those who finished upper secondary keep growing until 2090.
Where it is hardest. In Niger, 74.9 of every 100 adults never went to school.
Numbers, not just shares. The most adults who never went to school live in India: 260.4 million.

Adults by age · 2020

Each generation went further

Schooling spreads one generation at a time. Of every 100 people aged 25–29 in 2020, 10 never went to school; of every 100 aged 85+, 25. Among women the change is larger: 11.4 of every 100 women aged 25–29 never went to school, against 21.5 of every 100 aged 60–64. For men it is 7.7 against 12.9.

25–2930–3435–3940–4445–4950–5455–5960–6465–6970–7475–7980–8485+

never went to school
some primary
finished primary
finished lower secondary
finished upper secondary
studied after school

How to read this: one row for each five-year age group in 2020, youngest at the top. Each row is 100 people of that age, coloured by how far they went in school. Reading down the rows is going back in time: the oldest rows went to school sixty years before the youngest.

People aged 15 to 64 · 2020–2100

Fewer workers, with more schooling

The world's working-age people, 15 to 64, are projected to be most numerous in 2070, at 6.19 billion. The ones among them who finished upper secondary school keep growing for another 20 years, to 2090: from 2.35 billion in 2020 to 4.76 billion. Fewer workers, and more of them with more schooling.

2020205021002 bn4 bn6 bnmost: 2070

never went to school
some primary
finished primary
finished lower secondary
finished upper secondary
studied after school

How to read this: one column for every fifth year, 2020 to 2100. Each column is all the world's people aged 15 to 64 that year, stacked by how far they went in school, least schooling at the bottom. Only the 2020 column is counted; the striped ones are the Wittgenstein Centre's middle projection. projected

If schooling spreads faster, or stalls

The projection rests on how fast schooling spreads. The Wittgenstein Centre also works out two other futures. They are not a range around the middle one: they are what would happen if the world took another road.

Future	What changes	People 15–64	Those who finished upper secondary
Middle of the road	schooling keeps spreading at the pace it has	most in 2070	most in 2090
Faster	schooling spreads faster and families are smaller	most in 2045	most in 2065
Stalled	schooling stops spreading and families stay larger	still rising in 2100	still rising in 2100

The working-age page gives the UN's own peak year for the world's people aged 15 to 64. The two are counted separately and are never mixed on this site.

Women and men who never went to school · 2020

Girls and boys

Where schooling came late, it came to boys first. In Africa, 59.3 of every 100 women aged 60–64 never went to school, against 38.1 of every 100 men. Among 25- to 29-year-olds it is 25.5 and 17.6: fewer on both sides, and a smaller gap, but not none.

The world

Women 60–6421.5
Men 60–6412.9
Women 25–2911.4
Men 25–297.7

Africa

Women 60–6459.3
Men 60–6438.1
Women 25–2925.5
Men 25–2917.6

Asia

Women 60–6425.7
Men 60–6414.5
Women 25–2910.9
Men 25–297.2

Europe

Women 60–640.6
Men 60–640.5
Women 25–290.2
Men 25–290.3

Latin America and the Caribbean

Women 60–6410.8
Men 60–649.4
Women 25–292.3
Men 25–292.8

Oceania

Women 60–644.9
Men 60–642.6
Women 25–292.5
Men 25–292.2

How to read this: each bar is how many of every 100 women, or men, of that age never went to school (2020). The number is at the end of the bar; women are amber, men violet, and every bar is labelled. The Wittgenstein Centre gives North America no area of its own, so it is not drawn here; the United States and Canada are in the table below.

Adults who never went to school · 2020

Where the fewest went to school

In Niger, 74.9 of every 100 adults never went to school, the highest share of any country with a million adults or more. The largest number is in India: 260.4 million adults, 33.8 of every 100 there.

How to read this: the 20 countries with the highest share of adults (25 and over) who never went to school in 2020, among countries with at least 1,000,000 adults. The number is how many of every 100.

Country by country

Every country

All 200 countries the Wittgenstein Centre covers, A to Z.

Every country: who never went to school, who finished, and when workers peak

Country	Never went, of 100, 2020	Never went, 2050	Upper secondary or more, 2020	Upper secondary or more, 2050	People 15–64 most in	Those who finished upper secondary most in
Afghanistan	73	34	13	42	2095	after 2100
Albania	3	2	49	67	2020 or before	2020 or before
Algeria	20	8	41	69	2075	2075
Angola	46	15	9	33	2095	after 2100
Antigua and Barbuda	4	3	49	71	2030	2070
Argentina	2	0	50	71	2040	2065
Armenia	0	0	93	95	2020 or before	2020 or before
Aruba	6	3	37	60	2065	2090
Australia	1	1	91	96	2070	2070
Austria	0	0	78	87	2020 or before	2025
Azerbaijan	0	0	89	94	2035	2040
Bahamas	2	1	88	95	2030	2030
Bahrain	4	3	49	67	2040	2075
Bangladesh	37	14	19	43	2045	2075
Barbados	4	2	45	70	2020 or before	2065
Belarus	0	0	93	98	2020 or before	2020 or before
Belgium	3	0	66	86	2025	2070
Belize	4	2	37	60	2055	2080
Benin	50	17	12	40	2095	after 2100
Bhutan	46	20	16	37	2040	2065
Bolivia	6	1	46	75	2065	2075
Bosnia and Herzegovina	4	1	71	88	2020 or before	2020 or before
Botswana	11	2	43	72	2065	2075
Brazil	8	3	44	67	2035	2055
Brunei	6	3	39	63	2035	2075
Bulgaria	1	1	75	87	2020 or before	2020 or before
Burkina Faso	74	43	4	13	after 2100	after 2100
Burundi	41	12	6	18	2095	after 2100
Cabo Verde	9	2	18	35	2045	2080
Cambodia	22	10	12	34	2050	2090
Cameroon	25	12	22	50	2090	after 2100
Canada	0	0	86	92	2020 or before	2045
Central African Republic	35	15	6	17	after 2100	after 2100
Chad	59	25	7	25	after 2100	after 2100
Chile	2	1	63	83	2030	2040
China	4	1	30	60	2020 or before	2050
Colombia	6	3	49	73	2040	2055
Comoros	37	8	23	54	2080	after 2100
Costa Rica	3	1	40	59	2035	2065
Côte d’Ivoire	48	23	12	36	2085	after 2100
Croatia	1	0	78	92	2020 or before	2020 or before
Cuba	2	0	58	79	2020 or before	2025
Curaçao	0	1	47	70	2055	2075
Cyprus	3	1	77	90	2035	2040
Czechia	0	0	89	95	2025	2025
Democratic Republic of the Congo	15	4	24	47	after 2100	after 2100
Denmark	0	0	76	88	2025	2090
Djibouti	55	29	13	28	2060	after 2100
Dominican Republic	12	5	41	67	2050	2070
Ecuador	7	3	41	59	2050	2065
Egypt	30	9	55	81	2075	2080
El Salvador	16	6	30	50	2035	2060
Equatorial Guinea	7	3	10	28	2085	after 2100
Eritrea	55	27	13	29	2080	after 2100
Estonia	0	0	82	91	2025	2020 or before
Eswatini	10	2	31	49	2055	2085
Ethiopia	61	28	8	24	2085	after 2100
Fiji	1	0	47	77	2040	2060
Finland	0	0	81	93	2020 or before	2020 or before
France	2	1	72	88	2020 or before	2070
French Guiana	15	10	45	62	2080	2095
French Polynesia	3	1	62	82	2030	2045
Gabon	9	3	21	38	2075	after 2100
Gambia	51	17	22	47	2085	after 2100
Georgia	0	0	93	95	2020 or before	2020 or before
Germany	0	0	85	91	2020 or before	2020 or before
Ghana	25	8	23	46	2090	after 2100
Greece	2	1	63	82	2020 or before	2030
Grenada	4	2	50	73	2045	2050
Guadeloupe	2	2	56	78	2020 or before	2060
Guam	2	2	40	70	2060	2070
Guatemala	24	7	19	36	2060	2095
Guinea	68	34	12	31	2085	after 2100
Guinea-Bissau	40	12	15	24	2075	after 2100
Guyana	2	1	54	76	2040	2055
Haiti	30	8	23	47	2060	2090
Honduras	15	7	20	38	2055	2090
Hong Kong	4	2	59	77	2020 or before	2020 or before
Hungary	1	0	78	92	2020 or before	2020 or before
Iceland	0	0	68	80	2040	2090
India	34	13	34	62	2045	2065
Indonesia	7	1	38	67	2045	2065
Iran	15	5	44	67	2040	2070
Iraq	17	8	26	49	2075	2095
Ireland	0	0	76	91	2070	2070
Israel	2	1	67	82	after 2100	after 2100
Italy	1	0	53	78	2020 or before	2035
Jamaica	0	0	34	57	2025	2055
Japan	0	0	86	96	2020 or before	2020 or before
Jordan	9	4	53	67	2070	2075
Kazakhstan	0	0	90	95	2070	2075
Kenya	16	8	30	49	2080	after 2100
Kiribati	9	3	46	79	2070	2075
Kuwait	4	3	32	51	2035	2075
Kyrgyzstan	0	0	87	95	2075	2075
Laos	16	6	17	44	2055	2085
Latvia	0	0	84	89	2020 or before	2020 or before
Lebanon	8	2	40	69	2060	2070
Lesotho	9	2	21	47	2065	2085
Liberia	44	17	18	31	2085	after 2100
Libya	29	10	36	66	2065	2070
Lithuania	0	0	85	92	2020 or before	2020 or before
Luxembourg	0	0	71	84	2030	2075
Macao	2	1	55	74	2020 or before	2045
Madagascar	20	11	7	24	2085	after 2100
Malawi	22	7	16	40	2095	after 2100
Malaysia	8	3	67	86	2045	2050
Maldives	14	4	22	39	2045	2080
Mali	69	32	9	33	after 2100	after 2100
Malta	1	0	44	69	2020 or before	2045
Martinique	1	1	59	80	2020 or before	2060
Mauritania	62	35	10	33	2090	after 2100
Mauritius	4	1	38	65	2020 or before	2055
Mayotte	2	2	63	83	after 2100	after 2100
Mexico	6	2	39	60	2050	2075
Micronesia	7	4	48	69	2050	2060
Moldova	0	0	70	85	2020 or before	2020 or before
Mongolia	2	2	73	87	2075	2080
Montenegro	0	0	78	91	2025	2025
Morocco	40	14	19	49	2050	2075
Mozambique	52	26	10	24	2090	after 2100
Myanmar	14	6	18	39	2040	2085
Namibia	11	3	30	50	2075	after 2100
Nepal	42	12	30	64	2050	2065
Netherlands	0	0	72	88	2020 or before	2050
New Caledonia	4	2	67	85	2065	2065
New Zealand	1	1	82	90	2045	2070
Nicaragua	18	8	28	47	2050	2080
Niger	75	34	3	16	after 2100	after 2100
Nigeria	35	18	39	64	after 2100	after 2100
North Korea	0	0	99	100	2020 or before	2020 or before
North Macedonia	2	1	64	83	2020 or before	2045
Norway	0	0	79	87	2030	2095
Oman	9	3	54	72	2045	2075
Pakistan	49	27	26	51	2090	after 2100
Palestine	4	1	51	73	2075	2090
Panama	5	2	51	71	2060	2070
Papua New Guinea	15	7	23	48	2070	2090
Paraguay	3	1	34	58	2055	2080
Peru	5	1	63	81	2050	2055
Philippines	2	1	63	78	2065	2075
Poland	0	0	86	95	2020 or before	2020 or before
Portugal	8	2	37	65	2020 or before	2070
Puerto Rico	2	2	77	87	2020 or before	2020 or before
Qatar	3	3	41	54	2040	2075
Republic of the Congo	8	3	17	34	2085	after 2100
Réunion	4	1	52	77	2065	2075
Romania	2	1	68	85	2020 or before	2020 or before
Russia	0	0	90	96	2020 or before	2020 or before
Rwanda	23	6	8	28	2090	after 2100
Saint Lucia	3	2	51	76	2025	2045
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	1	1	36	61	2020 or before	2055
Samoa	1	0	36	69	2070	2080
São Tomé and Príncipe	8	2	9	32	2075	after 2100
Saudi Arabia	9	4	53	74	2040	2070
Senegal	62	35	10	32	2095	after 2100
Serbia	2	1	75	89	2020 or before	2020 or before
Seychelles	2	1	57	78	2040	2070
Sierra Leone	54	16	16	39	2080	after 2100
Singapore	4	1	77	90	2020 or before	2025
Slovakia	0	0	89	96	2020 or before	2020 or before
Slovenia	0	0	78	92	2020 or before	2020 or before
Solomon Islands	15	6	22	50	2085	after 2100
Somalia	54	23	8	23	after 2100	after 2100
South Africa	7	2	47	74	2050	2070
South Korea	2	0	81	96	2020 or before	2020 or before
South Sudan	73	46	15	34	2065	after 2100
Spain	2	1	51	72	2025	2070
Sri Lanka	14	5	51	74	2035	2060
Sudan	45	24	24	45	2085	after 2100
Suriname	7	2	31	55	2060	2085
Sweden	0	0	78	90	2070	2075
Switzerland	2	1	81	89	2025	2075
Syria	16	6	24	46	2065	2095
Taiwan	1	0	71	90	2020 or before	2020 or before
Tajikistan	2	0	82	92	2075	2080
Tanzania	22	8	7	28	after 2100	after 2100
Thailand	3	2	42	71	2020 or before	2045
Timor-Leste	38	13	36	72	2065	2075
Togo	29	8	15	39	2085	after 2100
Tonga	1	0	34	66	2055	2070
Trinidad and Tobago	2	1	53	77	2020 or before	2045
Tunisia	20	5	32	66	2040	2070
Türkiye	4	1	44	70	2040	2060
Turkmenistan	0	0	94	98	2075	2075
Uganda	16	4	15	32	after 2100	after 2100
Ukraine	0	0	89	97	2020 or before	2020 or before
United Arab Emirates	6	4	58	69	2035	2045
United Kingdom	0	0	68	86	2030	2070
United States	1	1	89	93	2065	2070
Uruguay	1	0	34	52	2030	2060
US Virgin Islands	5	3	41	69	2020 or before	2075
Uzbekistan	1	0	86	94	2075	2075
Vanuatu	15	8	19	45	2080	after 2100
Venezuela	5	2	51	73	2060	2065
Vietnam	4	2	26	55	2040	2070
Western Sahara	62	37	10	32	2070	2095
Yemen	75	29	25	68	2080	2085
Zambia	14	6	25	42	2090	after 2100
Zimbabwe	8	6	56	72	2075	2085

How to read this: "of 100" means of every 100 adults aged 25 and over. 2050 and the peak years are the middle projection. "2020 or before" means the number was already falling when the count begins; "after 2100" means it is still rising at the end.

Limits

What this page cannot show

Years in school, not what was learned. These are the levels people finished. Two people with the same years can read very differently. The share of adults who cannot read is a different measure, from UNESCO, on how the world's people live.
No years before 2020. This version of the Wittgenstein Centre's work starts from 2020. Its earlier reconstruction back to 1950 used another base year and other countries, so the two are not joined.
No figure for 36 places. The Wittgenstein Centre does not count American Samoa, Andorra, Anguilla, Bermuda, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cook Islands, Dominica, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Greenland, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Marshall Islands, Monaco, Montserrat, Nauru, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, San Marino, Sint Maarten, Tokelau, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu and Wallis and Futuna.
No average years of schooling. The Centre publishes a file under that name, but its numbers run from 0 to about 2, so they are not years; until what it holds is clear, this site does not use it.

Back to the count

How this rests on the census

The adults this page counts are everyone aged 25 and over. In mid-2025 that was 4.94 billion people, 60 of every 100 of every 100 alive (the UN's count, drawn here only to show which ages the page is about).

020406080100+

adults aged 25 and over everyone else

How to read this: one column for each year of age, from newborn babies on the left to people aged 100 and over on the right. The taller the column, the more people of that age were alive in mid-2025 — 8.23 billion in all, counted by the UN.

The children and teenagers below 25 are not in these shares: many are still in school, and where they stop is what will change the next generation's figures.

Questions

Questions people ask

How many adults in the world never went to school?

15 of every 100 adults aged 25 and over in 2020, by the Wittgenstein Centre's count. By 2050 it is projected to be 8.

Is the world’s workforce getting more educated?

Yes. The world’s people aged 15 to 64 are projected to be most numerous in 2070, but the ones who finished upper secondary school keep growing until 2090.

How many adults finished upper secondary school?

44 of every 100 adults finished upper secondary or went further in 2020; by 2050 it is projected to be 64.

Where do the most adults who never went to school live?

In India: 260.4 million adults. The highest share is in Niger, 74.9 of every 100.

Where do the numbers come from?

The Wittgenstein Centre’s population and human capital projections, version WIC3.005 (CC BY 4.0). Every source is listed on the references page.

Apparatus

Sources and method

Method: every number on this page is the Wittgenstein Centre's own count of people by age, sex and the highest level of school they finished, on 1 January of every fifth year, 2020 to 2100. 2020 is built from censuses and surveys; every later year is a projection. The middle projection (the Centre's SSP2) is the page's line; the faster (SSP1) and stalled (SSP3) futures are shown only in the table of peak years. Adults are 25 and over, because most people have finished school by then. "Of every 100" shares are whole numbers that add up to exactly 100. The Centre's population is its own projection, so it is never set beside the UN's count used elsewhere on this site. Version WIC3.005 (internal V15), doi 10.5281/zenodo.20447835, fetched 2026-09-29. The same projections can be explored on the Centre's own Human Capital Data Explorer.

Sources: Wittgenstein Centre · UN WPP 2024 · flag-icons. Every source, its licence and how to cite it →

Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries