OECD members - Lower secondary completion rate, total (% of relevant age group)

Lower secondary completion rate, total (% of relevant age group) in OECD members was 93.99 as of 2020. Its highest value over the past 45 years was 94.77 in 2015, while its lowest value was 74.88 in 1978.

Definition: Lower secondary education completion rate is measured as the gross intake ratio to the last grade of lower secondary education (general and pre-vocational). It is calculated as the number of new entrants in the last grade of lower secondary education, regardless of age, divided by the population at the entrance age for the last grade of lower secondary education.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (http://uis.unesco.org/)

See also:

Year Value
1975 76.81
1976 76.96
1977 77.14
1978 74.88
1979 78.39
1980 78.99
1981 78.48
1982 77.73
1983 78.97
1984 79.86
1985 80.05
1986 80.71
1987 81.52
1988 79.06
1989 82.81
1990 83.01
1991 82.96
1992 83.21
1993 83.60
1994 84.06
1995 84.55
1996 85.28
1997 86.12
1998 86.75
1999 86.86
2000 87.54
2001 88.19
2002 89.37
2003 90.40
2004 91.33
2005 92.19
2006 92.65
2007 92.67
2008 92.94
2009 93.20
2010 94.17
2011 94.01
2012 93.92
2013 93.40
2014 93.90
2015 94.77
2016 94.65
2017 94.45
2018 93.85
2019 94.14
2020 93.99

Limitations and Exceptions: Data limitations preclude adjusting for students who drop out during the final year of lower secondary education. Thus this rate is a proxy that should be taken as an upper estimate of the actual lower secondary completion rate. There are many reasons why the rate can exceed 100 percent. The numerator may include late entrants and overage children who have repeated one or more grades of lower secondary education as well as children who entered school early, while the denominator is the number of children at the entrance age for the last grade of lower secondary education.

Other Notes: Data retrieved via API in March 2019. For detailed information on the observation level (e.g. National Estimation, UIS Estimation, or Category not applicable), please visit UIS.Stat (http://data.uis.unesco.org/).

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Lower secondary completion rate is calculated as the number of new entrants (enrollment minus repeaters) in the last grade of lower secondary education, regardless of age, divided by the population at the entrance age for the last grade of lower secondary education. Data on education are collected by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics from official responses to its annual education survey. All the data are mapped to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) to ensure the comparability of education programs at the international level. The current version was formally adopted by UNESCO Member States in 2011. Population data are drawn from the United Nations Population Division. Using a single source for population data standardizes definitions, estimations, and interpolation methods, ensuring a consistent methodology across countries and minimizing potential enumeration problems in national censuses. The reference years reflect the school year for which the data are presented. In some countries the school year spans two calendar years (for example, from September 2010 to June 2011); in these cases the reference year refers to the year in which the school year ended (2011 in the example).

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Education Indicators

Sub-Topic: Outcomes