Primary education, pupils in Ghana

Ghana: Primary education, pupils was 4.98 million in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
4.98 million
Change on year
up 4.7%
World rank
31st
of 206 countries
All-time high
4.98 million
in 2024
All-time low
966,906
in 1971
Years of data
51
1971–2024

Primary education, pupils in Ghana, 1971–2024

1.0M2.0M3.0M4.0M5.0M197119972024

Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Analysis

The most recent figure for primary education, pupils in Ghana is 4.98 million, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 51 years on record.

That represents a change of up 4.7% on the previous year and up 21.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, primary education, pupils in Ghana peaked at 4.98 million in 2024 and was at its lowest, 966,906, in 1971.

Ghana ranks 31st of 206 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 51 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 1.12 million 966,906 1.32 million 9
1980s 1.52 million 1.37 million 1.71 million 10
1990s 2.10 million 1.70 million 2.38 million 9
2000s 2.95 million 2.45 million 3.66 million 10
2010s 4.25 million 3.96 million 4.55 million 9
2020s 4.76 million 4.58 million 4.98 million 4

Countries ranked near Ghana

  1. 28 Madagascar 5.29 million compare
  2. 29 Cameroon 5.29 million compare
  3. 30 Sudan 5.23 million compare
  4. 32 United Kingdom 4.86 million compare
  5. 33 Iraq 4.86 million compare
  6. 34 Cote d'Ivoire 4.82 million compare

See the full ranking of 251 places →

More education data for Ghana

All data for Ghana →

Frequently asked questions

What is primary education, pupils in Ghana?
Primary education, pupils in Ghana was 4.98 million in 2024, according to Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
What is the highest primary education, pupils recorded in Ghana?
The highest recorded value was 4.98 million in 2024.
What is the lowest primary education, pupils recorded in Ghana?
The lowest recorded value was 966,906 in 1971.
How does Ghana rank for primary education, pupils?
Ghana ranks 31st out of 206 countries with data for 2024.
Is primary education, pupils rising or falling in Ghana?
Over the last ten years it is up 21.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Ghana data come from?
The figures come from Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), published as part of Primary education, pupils. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 51 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

About this data

Indicator
Primary education, pupils
Source
Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
251 places, 11,297 data points, 1970–2025
Last refreshed

Primary education pupils is the total number of pupils enrolled at primary level in public and private schools.