Countries with lowest share of population with higher education 2021

As of 2021, based on data dating back to 2016, Burundi was the country in the world where the lowest share of the population had a higher education of a bachelor's degree or higher. In the East African country, less than one percent of the population had completed a bachelor's degree. In fact, a high number of the countries on the list were located in Sub-Saharan Africa. Mali and Mozambique followed on the places behind Burundi. On the other hand, the United Arab Emirates was the country where the highest share of the population had completed a bachelor's degree or more.

20 countries worldwide with the lowest share of population with at least a bachelor's degree as of 2021

Characteristic	Share of adult population
Burundi (2017)	0.9%
Mali (2020)	1.6%
Mozambique (2017)	1.8%
Burkina Faso (2018)	2.1%
Madagascar (2018)	2.8%
Senegal (2017)	2.8%
Afghanistan (2021)	3.1%
Zimbabwe (2017)	3.3%
Congo Dem. Rep. (2016)	3.5%
Rwanda (2018)	4.1%
Guatemala (2019)	4.3%
Fiji (2017)	5.2%
Egypt (2017)	6.2%
Guinea (2018)	6.2%
Puerto Rico (2017)	7.6%
Belize (2020)	7.9%
South Africa (2020)	8%
Honduras (2019)	9.6%
Bhutan (2017)	10.2%
Vietnam (2019)	10.2%

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Release date

September 2023

More information

Region

Worldwide

Survey time period

2021*

Age group

25 years and older

Special properties

Cumulative

Supplementary notes

Please note that values were not available for a range of countries.

Countries for which values were only available in 2015 or earlier are not included.

* Year of value in brackets.

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