Pupil/teacher ratios in public and private elementary and secondary schools, by level of education and country: Selected years, 2000 through 2013

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Table 601.50.

Country	Elementary school														Junior high school (lower secondary)														Senior high school (upper secondary)
Country	2000		2005		2009		2010		2011		2012		2013		2000		2005		2009		2010		2011		2012		2013		2000		2005		2009		2010		2011		2012		2013
1	2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		12		13		14		15		16		17		18		19		20		21		22
OECD average¹	17.7		17.0		16.0		15.9		15.4		15.1		15.2		—		14.0		13.5		13.6		13.3		13.3		13.4		13.7		13.5		13.4		13.6		13.7		13.5		13.3
Australia	17.3		16.2		15.8		15.7		15.6		15.5		15.6		—		—		—		—		—		—		—		—		12.1	^2,3	12.0	^2,3	12.0	^2,3	12.0	^2,3	12.0	^2,3	12.0	^2,3
Austria	—		14.1		12.6		12.2		12.1		12.0		11.9		—		10.6		9.6		9.3		9.1		9.0		9.0		—		11.3		10.2		10.1		9.8		9.8		9.9
Belgium	15.0	⁴	12.8		12.5	⁵	12.4	⁵	12.4	⁵	12.5	⁵	12.7	⁵	—		9.4		8.1	⁵	8.1	⁵	8.1	⁵	8.2	⁵	9.3	⁵	9.7	^3,6	9.9	⁶	10.2	^5,6	10.1	^5,6	10.1	^5,6	10.1	^5,6	9.9	⁵
Canada	18.1		—		—		—		—		14.0	^3,4	—		18.1		—		17.7	^4,7	15.9	^4,7	15.8	^4,7	—		—		19.5		—		15.8		14.1		14.1		13.8		—
Chile	—		25.9		22.4		24.6		23.1		22.1		22.5		—		25.9		22.4		25.1		23.6		22.4		24.3		—		26.6		24.7		26.1		25.4		24.0		25.1

Czech Republic	19.7		17.5		18.4		18.7		18.7		18.9		18.8		14.7		13.5		11.5		11.2		11.1		11.1		11.2		11.5		12.8		12.2		12.1		11.7		11.3		11.1
Denmark	10.4		—		—		—		—		—		—		11.4		11.9	⁷	9.9	⁷	11.5	⁷	11.8	⁷	11.9	⁷	—		14.4		—		—		—		—		—		—
Estonia	—		—		16.2		16.2		13.2		13.1		13.0		—		—		15.7		14.9		10.1		9.9		9.8		—		—		16.8	⁶	16.6	⁶	13.7		14.1	⁶	11.3	⁶
Finland	16.9		15.9		13.6		14.0		13.7		13.6		13.2		10.7		10.0		10.1		9.8		9.3		8.9		9.0		17.0	^6,8	18.0	^6,8	16.6	⁶	17.1	⁶	16.3	⁶	16.1	⁶	16.0
France	19.8		19.4		19.7	⁵	18.7	⁵	18.4	⁵	18.9	⁵	19.3		14.7		14.2		14.9	⁵	15.0	⁵	14.8	⁵	15.5	⁵	15.4		10.4		10.3		9.6	⁵	9.7	⁵	10.0	⁵	9.9	⁵	10.1

Germany	19.8		18.8		17.4		16.7		16.3		16.0		15.6		15.7		15.5		15.1		14.9		14.2		14.0		13.6		13.9		14.0		13.9		13.2		13.8		13.7		13.2
Greece	13.4		11.1		—		—		—		9.4		9.5		10.8		7.9		—		—		—		—		7.3		10.5		8.8		—		—		—		—		8.1
Hungary	10.9		10.6		10.7		10.8		10.7		10.7		10.6	⁹	10.9		10.4		10.8		10.7		10.5		10.6		10.4	⁹	11.4	⁶	12.2		12.8		12.5		12.4		12.5		12.0	⁹
Iceland	—		—		—		—		10.2		10.2		10.4		12.7	⁷	11.3	⁷	9.9	⁷	10.3	⁷	10.6		10.6		10.5		9.7		10.8	⁶	10.9	⁶	11.3		11.5	⁶	11.5	⁶	—
Ireland	21.5		17.9		15.9		15.9		15.7		16.2		16.4	¹⁰	—		—		—		—		—		—		—		15.9	^3,6	15.5	^3,6	12.6	^3,6,10	14.4	^3,6,10	14.4	^3,6	15.0	^3,6	13.9	^3,10

Israel	—		17.3		17.0		20.6	¹⁰	15.9	¹⁰	15.2		15.3		—		13.4		13.7		12.8	¹⁰	13.6	¹⁰	13.6		13.5		—		13.4		10.8		11.0	¹⁰	11.3	¹⁰	11.0		11.0	¹⁰
Italy	11.0		10.6		10.7	¹⁰	11.3	¹⁰	11.7	¹⁰	12.1	¹⁰	12.3		10.4		10.1		10.0	¹⁰	11.9	¹⁰	11.5	¹⁰	11.8	¹⁰	11.7		10.2		11.0		11.8	¹⁰	12.1	¹⁰	12.8	¹⁰	13.0	¹⁰	12.6
Japan	20.9		19.4		18.6		18.4		18.1		17.7		17.4		16.8		15.1		14.5		14.4		14.2		14.1		13.9		14.0		13.0	⁶	12.2	⁶	12.2	⁶	12.2	⁶	12.1	⁶	11.7	⁶
Korea, Republic of	32.1		28.0		22.5		21.1		19.6		18.4		17.3		21.5		20.8		19.9		19.7		18.8		18.1		17.5		20.9		16.0		16.7		16.5		15.8		15.4		15.1
Luxembourg	15.9	¹⁰	—		11.6		10.1		9.9		9.2		8.8		—		—		—		—		—		10.7		11.2		9.2	^3,10	9.0	^3,10	9.1	³	9.1	³	9.6	³	7.6		7.1

Mexico	27.2		28.3		28.1		28.1		28.1		28.0		27.7		34.8		33.7		33.0		32.7		31.9		31.9		32.2		26.5		25.8		25.6		26.9		26.8		26.9		27.3
Netherlands	16.8	⁴	15.9	⁴	15.8	^4,10	15.7	^4,10	15.8		15.8		17.0	¹⁰	—		—		—		—		15.3		15.6		16.0	¹⁰	17.1	³	16.2	³	16.1	^3,6,10	16.5	^3,6,10	18.2		18.6		19.0	¹⁰
New Zealand	20.6		18.1		16.3		16.2		16.3		16.4		16.4		19.9		16.8		16.3		16.3		16.3		16.4		16.4		13.1		12.9		12.8		14.4		13.9		13.7		13.3
Norway	12.4		—		10.7	¹⁰	10.5	¹⁰	10.4	¹⁰	10.3		10.3		9.9		—		9.9	¹⁰	9.9	¹⁰	10.0	¹⁰	10.4		9.8		9.7		—		9.4	^6,10	9.4	¹⁰	9.7	^6,10	9.6	⁶	10.3	^6,8
Poland	12.7		11.7		10.2		10.0		11.0		11.0		11.1		11.5		12.7		12.9		12.7		10.0		9.9		9.9		16.9		12.9		12.0		12.1		11.1		10.9		11.0

Portugal	12.1		10.8		11.3		10.9		11.2	¹¹	11.9		13.2		10.4		8.2		7.6		7.9		8.2	¹¹	9.6		10.4		7.9		8.0		7.7	⁶	7.2	⁶	7.3	^6,11	7.6	⁶	8.4	⁶
Slovak Republic	18.3		18.9		17.7		17.1		16.9		16.8		16.9		13.5		14.1		14.0		13.6		13.1		12.8		12.5		12.8		14.3		15.1		14.6		14.3		13.9		13.6
Slovenia	—		15.0		16.7		16.2		16.0		15.9		16.0		—		11.1		7.9		8.0		7.9		7.9		8.2		—		14.6		14.3	⁶	14.3	⁶	14.3	⁶	14.1	⁶	13.5
Spain	14.9		14.3		13.3		13.2		13.2		13.4		13.8		—		12.5		10.1		10.1		10.3		10.6		11.6		11.9	³	8.1		9.3		9.6		9.8		9.9		11.0
Sweden	12.8		12.2		12.1		11.7		11.3		11.8		12.7		12.8		12.0		11.3		11.4		11.3		11.3		12.0		15.2		14.0		13.2		13.1		13.0		13.2		12.8

Switzerland¹⁰	—		14.6		15.4		14.9		—		—		15.0		—		11.7		12.0		11.8		—		—		12.0		—		10.5	²	10.4	²	10.3	²	—		—		—
Turkey	30.5		25.8		22.9		21.7		21.0		20.1		19.8		—		†		†		†		†		20.1		19.3		14.0		16.2		16.9		17.6		17.8		16.2		15.6
United Kingdom	21.2		20.7		19.9		19.8		19.9		21.1		20.7		17.6	²	17.0		16.1		17.1		15.2		14.2		18.5		12.5	²	11.8	^2,6	12.3	⁶	15.2	⁶	17.3		17.1		18.5
United States	15.8		14.9		14.8		14.5		15.3		15.3		15.3		16.3		15.1		14.3		14.0		15.2		15.3		15.4		14.1		16.0		15.1		15.0		15.3		15.3		15.4

Other reporting countries
Argentina	22.7	^10,12	—		16.0	¹³	—		—		—		—		13.2	^10,12	—		15.3	¹³	—		—		—		—		9.0	^10,12	—		8.8	¹³	—		—		—		—
Brazil	26.6	¹²	22.9		24.0		23.4		22.5		21.7		21.2		34.2	¹²	18.1		21.0		20.4		19.8		19.1		18.5		38.7	¹²	17.6		18.1		17.3		16.9		16.8		15.7
China	20.2	¹²	—		17.6		17.2		17.1		17.5		16.9		17.6	¹²	—		15.6		15.0		14.6		12.8		13.4		13.8	¹²	—		18.2		18.4		18.4		16.2		17.0
Colombia	—		—		—		—		—		—		25.0		—		—		—		—		—		—		26.6		—		—		—		—		—		—		22.9
India	43.0	^10,12	—		—		—		—		—		—		22.0	^10,12	—		—		—		—		—		—		9.2	^10,12	—		—		—		—		—		—
Indonesia	27.1	¹⁴	—		20.8		19.9		20.3		25.2		20.7		19.6	¹⁴	—		15.9		17.0		18.3		21.6		18.0		17.8	¹⁴	—		16.8		16.1		20.1		22.8		22.6
Latvia	—		—		—		—		—		11.0		11.2		—		—		—		—		—		7.9		7.8		—		—		—		—		—		10.7		10.2
Russian Federation	17.3	¹⁴	—		17.9	¹⁰	19.2	¹⁰	20.0	¹⁰	20.1	¹⁰	20.3		—		—		—		—		—		8.9	¹⁰	—		—		11.2	^6,15	8.7	^3,6,16	11.3	^3,6,16	8.7	^3,6,10	15.3	¹⁰	8.9	³
Saudi Arabia	—		—		—		11.2		11.0		10.9		—		—		—		—		8.8		9.8		9.7		—		—		—		—		11.0		10.9		10.7		—
South Africa	—		—		33.6	⁴	—		—		—		—		—		—		—		—		—		—		—		—		—		24.4	³	—		—		—		—

—Not available.

†Not applicable. This level of education not part of the national education structure; students in the age group normally associated with this education level were reported in other levels.

¹ Refers to the mean of the data values for all reporting Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, to which each country reporting data contributes equally. The average includes all current OECD countries for which a given year's data are available, even if they were not members of OECD in that year. However, if data were reported for less than 75 percent of the countries, the average for that year is omitted.

² Includes only general programs.

³ Includes junior high school data.

⁴ Includes preprimary data.

⁵ Excludes independent private institutions.

⁶ Includes postsecondary non-higher-education.

⁷ Includes elementary school data.

⁸ Includes occupation-specific education corresponding to that offered at the vocational associate's degree level in the United States.

⁹ Includes data on management personnel.

¹⁰ Public institutions only.

¹¹ Based on a head count of teachers, rather than full-time equivalents.

¹² Data from 1999 reported for 2000.

¹³ Data from 2008 reported for 2009.

¹⁴ Data from 2001 reported for 2000.

¹⁵ Excludes general programs.

¹⁶ Excludes part-time personnel in public institutions.

NOTE: The pupil/teacher ratio is the number of full-time-equivalent students divided by the number of full-time-equivalent teachers, including teachers for students with disabilities and other special teachers. Data for 2012 and earlier years were calculated using the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 1997. Data for 2013 used the ISCED 2011 classification and may not be comparable to data for earlier years. In this table, elementary school corresponds to ISCED 1997 and ISCED 2011 level 1 (U.S. grades 1 through 6), junior high school corresponds to ISCED 1997 and ISCED 2011 level 2 (U.S. grades 7 through 9), and senior high school corresponds to ISCED 1997 and ISCED 2011 level 3 (U.S. grades 10 through 12).

SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Online Education Database; and Education at a Glance, 2002 through 2015. (This table was prepared February 2016).

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