TOP 10 Countries by Primary & Secondary Enrollment (2025)
Where School Enrollment Is Highest Across Primary and Secondary Education
This ranking compares countries and territories with the highest combined gross enrollment across primary and secondary education. The measure is an enrollment index: the average of gross primary enrollment and gross secondary enrollment, expressed as a percentage of the official school-age population for each level.
The figures use UNESCO Institute for Statistics education series distributed through World Bank Data. School statistics are reported and validated with a time lag, so the ranking is a latest-available 2025 edition rather than a forecast for the 2026 school year. Most values in the Top 10 come from 2023 or 2024 observations.
Gross enrollment can exceed 100% because it counts all pupils enrolled at a level, including students who are younger or older than the official age group. The ranking measures formal participation and system reach, not learning quality, attendance, completion, or equity.
Monaco leads because its gross secondary enrollment is far above 100% and its primary ratio is also elevated.
Costa Rica closes the Top 10 among economies with recent values for both primary and secondary gross enrollment.
The largest differences near the top come from secondary enrollment, where several systems exceed 130%.
The page uses gross enrollment indicators sourced from UNESCO UIS and published through World Bank Data.
Overview: why secondary enrollment shapes the upper ranking
Primary schooling is already near universal in many economies, so it does not separate the top group as strongly as secondary education. The upper ranking is shaped by systems where pupils remain enrolled through secondary education and where the gross ratio is lifted by late entry, repeated grades, extended pathways, return enrollment, or cross-border schooling.
Monaco is the clear outlier. Its small population base and very high secondary gross enrollment create a combined index well above the rest of the Top 10. St. Kitts and Nevis, Sweden, Vanuatu, Belgium and Turks and Caicos Islands form the next cluster, all above 122% on the combined measure.
The list includes countries and territories because World Bank education series report data for both sovereign states and selected economies. This matters for small systems: a modest number of students outside the official age group can move the gross enrollment ratio more visibly than in a large national system.
The ranking is strongest as an access indicator. It should be read together with completion rates, attendance, teacher supply, learning assessments and equity indicators before drawing conclusions about the effectiveness of an education system.
Top 10 countries and territories by primary and secondary enrollment index
The enrollment index is the simple average of gross primary enrollment and gross secondary enrollment. Values are rounded to one decimal place.
| Rank | Country or territory | Enrollment index | Latest data note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monaco | 139.6% | Primary 2024; secondary 2024 |
| 2 | St. Kitts and Nevis | 129.3% | Primary 2023; secondary 2023 |
| 3 | Sweden | 124.6% | Primary 2024; secondary 2023 |
| 4 | Vanuatu | 123.6% | Primary 2024; secondary 2023 |
| 5 | Belgium | 122.5% | Primary 2023; secondary 2023 |
| 6 | Turks and Caicos Islands | 122.4% | Primary 2024; secondary 2024 |
| 7 | Finland | 121.0% | Primary 2024; secondary 2023 |
| 8 | Netherlands | 120.8% | Primary 2023; secondary 2023 |
| 9 | St. Vincent and the Grenadines | 118.4% | Primary 2023; secondary 2023 |
| 10 | Costa Rica | 117.7% | Primary 2024; secondary 2023 |
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics indicators published through World Bank Data. The ranking includes countries and territories with recent comparable observations for both gross primary and gross secondary enrollment.
Chart: enrollment index across the Top 10
Monaco sits well above the rest of the upper group. The remaining nine countries and territories cluster between 117.7% and 129.3%, with secondary enrollment doing most of the work in the combined index.
Key values: Monaco leads with 139.6%. Costa Rica closes the Top 10 at 117.7%. Values above 100% are expected in gross enrollment statistics when pupils outside the official age group are enrolled.
Methodology
Indicator definition
Gross enrollment ratio measures total enrollment at a given education level, regardless of age, as a percentage of the population officially expected to attend that level. This article combines primary and secondary schooling because together they describe the core school pathway before tertiary education.
Ranking formula
The enrollment index is calculated as: primary and secondary enrollment index = (gross primary enrollment ratio + gross secondary enrollment ratio) / 2. The formula keeps the two components visible and avoids mixing gross and net enrollment measures.
Data year and snapshot logic
The ranking is treated as a 2025 edition because it uses the latest available UNESCO UIS / World Bank observations published in the current data cycle. Education statistics are not synchronized across all countries; one economy may have a 2024 primary value and a 2023 secondary value, while another reports both components for the same year.
Processing and rounding
Primary and secondary values were kept in percentage units and averaged without weighting. The final index is rounded to one decimal place. Economies without recent comparable observations for both components were not used in the Top 10 calculation.
Limits of comparability
Gross enrollment ratios can exceed 100% because the numerator includes pupils outside the official age cohort. High values may reflect broad participation, late entry, repeated grades, return enrollment, cross-border schooling, small-population effects, or differences in education-cycle length. The metric does not measure attendance during the year, learning outcomes, school completion, teacher quality or equal access inside the system.
Main table with primary and secondary components
The component table shows how the combined index is built. It also makes clear that the highest-ranked economies are generally lifted by secondary gross enrollment, not by primary enrollment alone.
| Rank | Country or territory / region | Primary / secondary GER | Index |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monaco | 120.6% / 158.5% | 139.6% |
| 2 | St. Kitts and Nevis | 121.1% / 137.5% | 129.3% |
| 3 | Sweden | 115.0% / 134.2% | 124.6% |
| 4 | Vanuatu | 112.5% / 134.7% | 123.6% |
| 5 | Belgium | 102.0% / 143.0% | 122.5% |
| 6 | Turks and Caicos Islands | 125.1% / 119.7% | 122.4% |
| 7 | Finland | 99.0% / 142.9% | 121.0% |
| 8 | Netherlands | 104.0% / 137.5% | 120.8% |
| 9 | St. Vincent and the Grenadines | 111.3% / 125.4% | 118.4% |
| 10 | Costa Rica | 109.9% / 125.5% | 117.7% |
GER means gross enrollment ratio. Component values are latest available World Bank / UIS observations and are rounded to one decimal place for publication.
Insights from the ranking
Upper group
Monaco’s lead is driven by an unusually high secondary gross enrollment ratio. In small education systems, cross-border enrollment and pupils outside the official age band can have a larger effect on the denominator-based rate than in large countries.
European cluster
Sweden, Belgium, Finland and the Netherlands rank highly because secondary enrollment remains far above 100%. Their primary ratios are not the highest in the world, but strong secondary participation lifts the combined index.
Island and small-economy effect
St. Kitts and Nevis, Vanuatu, Turks and Caicos Islands and St. Vincent and the Grenadines show how small systems can appear near the top when both primary participation and secondary participation are high relative to official-age populations.
Lower edge of the Top 10
Costa Rica enters the Top 10 because both components are high: primary enrollment is above 100% and secondary enrollment is above 125%. That balance is different from Finland, where the index is driven much more heavily by the secondary component.
What this means for readers
For parents and students, a high enrollment index signals that formal schooling is widely used across the primary-to-secondary pathway. It does not prove that schools are equally strong, equally funded, or equally accessible across all communities.
For analysts, the split between primary and secondary enrollment is more useful than a single access label. Primary enrollment is often already high, while secondary enrollment better shows whether students remain in the system beyond the early grades.
For policymakers and businesses, broad participation through secondary education is an early signal of future human-capital depth. The practical question is whether high enrollment turns into completion, literacy, numeracy, technical skills and labour-market readiness.
FAQ
What does primary and secondary enrollment mean?
It measures how many pupils are enrolled in primary and secondary education relative to the official school-age population for those levels. This page uses gross enrollment ratios, so pupils outside the official age range are included.
Why can enrollment be above 100%?
Gross enrollment can exceed 100% when students enter school early or late, repeat grades, return to education, or attend a level while being outside the official age cohort. This is a normal feature of gross enrollment statistics.
Is gross enrollment the same as school attendance?
No. Enrollment records registration in the school system. Attendance measures whether pupils actually attend classes during the year. A country can have high enrollment and still face absenteeism or dropout problems.
Does a high score mean better education quality?
No. The score measures reach and participation. Quality requires separate evidence, including completion rates, learning outcomes, teacher qualifications, school resources and equity indicators.
Why are countries and territories mixed in the table?
World Bank education series report data for countries and selected territories. The table keeps that coverage visible because those economies are part of the comparable statistical dataset.
Why not call this actual 2026 data?
School-enrollment statistics are usually published after national collection and validation. The latest available observations in a 2025 or 2026 publication cycle often still refer to 2023 or 2024 school years, so presenting them as actual 2026 values would be misleading.
Sources
-
World Bank Data — School enrollment, primary (% gross)
Used for the gross primary enrollment component. The World Bank page identifies UNESCO Institute for Statistics as the source and provides the primary enrollment series.
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.PRM.ENRR -
World Bank Data — School enrollment, secondary (% gross)
Used for the gross secondary enrollment component. The indicator is published in percent and sourced from UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR -
UNESCO Institute for Statistics Data Browser
Used for the education-indicator framework behind gross enrolment ratios and international comparability across ISCED education levels.
https://databrowser.uis.unesco.org/browser/EDUCATION/UIS-EducationOPRI/enrol-att/enrolment/IG-GER?highlightGroupId=IG-GER&highlightId=GER.1 -
World Bank Data360 metadata — gross enrollment ratio
Used to verify the definition, annual reporting logic, ISCED comparability, and the caution that gross enrollment can be affected by overage or underage pupils.
https://data360.worldbank.org/en/indicator/WB_ESG_SE_PRM_ENRR -
World Bank EdStats DataBank
Used as a broader reference for education indicators covering access, progression, completion, teachers, expenditures and learning-related data.
https://databank.worldbank.org/source/education-statistics
