Primary school starting age in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Primary school starting age was 5 years in 2025. ▼ Falling
Primary school starting age in Sri Lanka, 1970–2025
Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Measured in years.
Analysis
The most recent figure for primary school starting age in Sri Lanka is 5 years, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 56 years on record.
The figure is unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, primary school starting age in Sri Lanka peaked at 6 years in 1970 and was at its lowest, 5 years, in 1998.
Sri Lanka ranks 186th of 210 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 56 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 6 years | 6 years | 6 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 6 years | 6 years | 6 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 5.8 years | 5 years | 6 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 5 years | 5 years | 5 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 5 years | 5 years | 5 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 5 years | 5 years | 5 years | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
- 186 Antigua and Barbuda 5 years compare
- 186 Australia 5 years compare
- 186 Bahamas 5 years compare
- 186 Barbados 5 years compare
- 186 Belize 5 years compare
- 186 Bermuda 5 years compare
- 186 British Virgin Islands 5 years compare
- 186 Cayman Islands 5 years compare
- 186 Dominica 5 years compare
- 186 Gibraltar 5 years compare
- 186 Grenada 5 years compare
- 186 Ireland 5 years compare
- 186 Malta 5 years compare
- 186 Mauritius 5 years compare
- 186 Myanmar 5 years compare
- 186 Nepal 5 years compare
- 186 New Zealand 5 years compare
- 186 Pakistan 5 years compare
- 186 Samoa 5 years compare
- 186 Saint Kitts and Nevis 5 years compare
- 186 Saint Lucia 5 years compare
- 186 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 5 years compare
- 186 Trinidad and Tobago 5 years compare
- 186 United Kingdom 5 years compare
More education data for Sri Lanka
- Lower secondary school starting age 10 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 65.8% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 21.7% (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 91.5% (2023)
- Primary education, teachers 73,333 (2023)
- School enrollment, primary, female 92.1% (2023)
- School enrollment, primary, male 90.8% (2023)
- Labor force, female 33.4% (2025)
- Labor force, total 8.26 million (2025)
- School enrollment, primary (gross), gender parity index 1 GPI (2020)
Frequently asked questions
- What is primary school starting age in Sri Lanka?
- Primary school starting age in Sri Lanka was 5 years in 2025, according to Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
- What is the highest primary school starting age recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 6 years in 1970.
- What is the lowest primary school starting age recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 5 years in 1998.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for primary school starting age?
- Sri Lanka ranks 186th out of 210 countries with data for 2025.
- Is primary school starting age rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sri Lanka data come from?
- The figures come from Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), published as part of Primary school starting age (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 56 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Primary school starting age is the age at which students would enter primary education, assuming they had started at the official entrance age for the lowest level of education, had studied full-time throughout and had progressed through the system without repeating or skipping a grade.