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Digest of Education Statistics
2006 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 392. Selected population and finance statistics, school enrollment, and teachers, by major areas of the world: Selected years, 1980 through 2004 
Selected characteristic World total1  Major areas of the world
Africa2  Asia3  Europe4  Central and
South America5 
Northern America5  Oceania6 
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1980                          
Population, all ages7  (in thousands) 4,447,090   475,714   2,641,312   693,075   359,307   255,109 22,573  
Enrollment, all levels (in thousands) 856,971   78,036   495,155   131,633   87,291   60,041 4,815  
First (primary) level8  541,556   62,134   336,174   52,471   65,414   22,611 2,752  
Second level9  264,379   14,360   144,755   62,734   16,969   23,913 1,647  
Third level10  51,037   1,542   14,227   16,428   4,908   13,516 416  
Teachers, all levels (in thousands) 38,285   2,338   19,641   8,225   3,730   4,079 272  
First (primary) level8  19,044   1,661   10,874   2,541   2,260   1,580 129  
Second level9  15,398   584   7,554   4,387   1,083   1,679 112  
Third level10  3,843   94   1,213   1,297   387   820 31  
Public expenditures on education                          
In millions of U.S. dollars 516,400   22,900   93,800   200,600   33,500   155,100 10,400  
As a percent of gross national product 4.8   5.3   4.0   5.1 11  3.8   5.2 5.6  
                           
1990                          
Population, all ages7  (in thousands) 5,281,986   629,389   3,184,342   722,109   437,822   282,020 26,304  
Enrollment, all levels (in thousands) 980,474   107,871   569,179   131,255   104,968   62,007 5,194  
First (primary) level8  596,853   80,640   364,213   48,968   75,505   24,810 2,717  
Second level9  315,008   24,378   181,652   63,366   22,194   21,569 1,849  
Third level10  68,613   2,853   23,314   18,922   7,269   15,628 628  
Teachers, all levels (in thousands) 47,105   3,791   24,455   9,398   5,131   4,000 330  
First (primary) level8  22,626   2,390   12,692   2,812   3,006   1,582 143  
Second level9  19,380   1,241   9,947   5,076   1,520   1,449 146  
Third level10  5,100   160   1,816   1,509   605   969 41  
Public expenditures on education                          
In millions of U.S. dollars 986,500   25,700   199,800   367,500   44,600   330,300 18,600  
As a percent of gross national product 4.8   5.6   3.7   5.1 11  4.1   5.4 5.6  
                           
1995                          
Population, all ages7  (in thousands) 5,686,775   719,497   3,437,791   728,034   476,641   296,644 28,168  
Enrollment, all levels (in thousands) 1,103,756   130,794   644,609   137,839   116,821   66,510 7,183  
First (primary) level8  649,480   95,928   394,304   47,344   82,279   26,501 3,124  
Second level9  372,724   30,899   219,415   69,448   26,087   23,984 2,891  
Third level10  81,552   3,966   30,890   21,047   8,455   16,026 1,167  
Teachers, all levels (in thousands) 52,047   4,486   26,955   10,113   5,784   4,269 439  
First (primary) level8  24,356   2,811   13,499   2,863   3,374   1,649 161  
Second level9  21,746   1,471   11,273   5,561   1,696   1,528 217  
Third level10  5,945   205   2,183   1,689   714   1,092 61  
                           
2000                          
Enrollment, all levels (in thousands) 1,202,702   151,466   702,941   137,235   136,462   66,943 7,655  
First (primary) level8  651,866   106,073   403,765 12  41,464   69,936   27,408 3,222  
Second level9  452,828   39,027 12  259,692   70,397   55,213   25,110 3,390  
Third level10  98,008   6,366 12  39,485   25,375 12  11,314   14,425 1,043 12 
Teachers, all levels (in thousands) 57,211 13  5,177   30,137   10,360   6,443   4,648  
First (primary) level8  25,713 12  2,929   15,342   2,745   2,735   1,805 157 12 
Second level9  24,780   1,891 12  12,371   5,746 12  2,850   1,686 236 12 
Third level10  6,718 13  357 12  2,424   1,869 12  858   1,157  
                           
2004                          
Enrollment, all levels (in thousands) 1,320,808   182,388   781,369   135,935   141,007   72,082 8,027  
First (primary) level8  685,275   126,157   420,861 12  38,640   69,256 12  27,025 3,335 12 
Second level9  503,455   48,444 12  301,190   66,357   57,150 12  26,900 3,415 12 
Third level10  132,077   7,787 12  59,318   30,937   14,600 12  18,157 1,276  
Teachers, all levels (in thousands) 62,349   5,784   33,373   10,487   7,219   4,991  
First (primary) level8  26,474   3,332   15,542   2,638   2,891 12  1,896  
Second level9  27,398   2,149 12  14,364   5,669   3,181 12  1,787  
Third level10  8,477 12 , 13  303 12  3,468 12  2,180   1,148 12  1,307  
‡ Reporting standards not met.
1 Enrollment and teacher data exclude the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
2 Excludes Rodrigues and other small islands.
3 Includes five countries of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), Arab states, and both the Asian and the European portions of Turkey.
4 Includes all countries of the former U.S.S.R. except Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.
5 Northern America includes Bermuda, Canada, Greenland, St. Pierre and Miquelon, and the United States of America. Hawaii is included in Northern America rather than Oceania. Central and South America includes Latin America and the Caribbean.
6 Includes American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Pacific Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, and the Republic of Vanuatu.
7 Estimate of midyear population.
8 First-level enrollment generally consists of elementary school, grades 1–6.
9 Second-level enrollment includes general education, teacher training (at the second level), and technical and vocational education. This level generally corresponds to secondary education in the United States, grades 7–12.
10 Third-level enrollment includes college and university enrollment, and technical and vocational education beyond the high school level. There is considerable variation in reporting from country to country.
11 This figure is for Europe, not including the former U.S.S.R.
12 Includes relatively high proportion of imputed values for nonrespondent countries.
13 Includes estimates for Oceania not separately shown. 
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Public expenditure data not available for 1995, 2000, and 2004.
SOURCE: United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Statistical Yearbook, 1999, and unpublished tabulations. (This table was prepared October 2006.)

2006 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest