Data sources

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)

The official source of international statistics on education, science and culture: enrollment coverage by level of education, literacy, government spending on education, R&D expenditure, the number of researchers. The data are collected directly from national ministries through a standard questionnaire and mapped to the ISCED classification.

13 indicators Updates: twice a year License: CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO Dataset: UIS Data Centre

Education 13

Literacy, enrollment, research, patents

1970–2024 Literacy rate

The share of adults able to read and write simple statements about everyday life.

% of population aged 15+ 45 countries UIS
1970–2025 Education expenditure (% of GDP)

Government spending on education at all levels as a percentage of GDP.

% of GDP 121 countries UIS
1970–2019 Primary school enrollment

The net enrollment rate: the share of children of school age attending primary school.

% of children of the relevant age 137 countries UIS
1970–2025 Secondary school enrollment

The gross enrollment ratio for secondary school.

% (gross ratio) 109 countries UIS
1970–2025 Tertiary education enrollment

How many university students there are relative to the population of the corresponding age.

% (gross ratio) 128 countries UIS
1996–2024 R&D expenditure (% of GDP)

Gross domestic expenditure on research and development as a percentage of GDP.

% of GDP 84 countries UIS
1996–2024 Researchers per million people

The number of researchers per million residents — in full-time equivalent.

per million people 76 countries UIS
1996–2023 Scientific and technical journal articles

The number of articles in scientific and technical journals per year.

articles 197 countries UIS
1970–2025 Primary completion rate

What share of children reach the last grade of primary school.

% of the age group 111 countries UIS
1970–2025 Children out of school

How many children of school age are not in school — in absolute numbers.

people 120 countries UIS
1970–2025 Share of children out of school

What share of children of school age are not in school.

% of primary school-age children 120 countries UIS
1970–2024 Population with tertiary education

What share of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

% of population aged 25+ 89 countries UIS
1980–2025 Education expenditure in the budget

What part of government spending a country devotes to education.

% of government expenditure 156 countries UIS

Data is loaded automatically through the source's official API and updated on a schedule. Values are not altered: indicators are published exactly as the source provides them.