8 answers, 4 from Zimbabwe's own official bodies, with a link to each figure.
94% of women and 93% of men aged 15 to 49 in Zimbabwe were literate in 2023–24, according to the Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey. 79% of women and 80% of men had attended or completed secondary school or higher.
The survey counts people as literate if they have attended secondary school or can read a whole sentence shown to them. The UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimates adult literacy for everyone aged 15 and over at 93.23% in 2019, the latest year in its data.
87% of children of primary school age in Zimbabwe were attending primary school in 2023–24, but only 54% of those of secondary age were in secondary school, according to the net attendance ratios in the Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey. Girls were more likely than boys to attend secondary school.
The UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimates that 10.52% of children of primary age were out of school in 2024, and 12.92% of those of lower secondary age. The net attendance ratio counts only children attending the level meant for their age, so older children still in primary school are not counted at secondary level.
88.81% of young people in Zimbabwe had completed primary school in 2019, and 13.97% upper secondary school, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics' completion rates for primary and upper secondary education. The lower secondary completion rate was 72.42% in 2015.
Completion rates measure the share of people a few years older than the final-grade age who have finished each level, using household survey data. Upper secondary in Zimbabwe means the A-level years. 2019 is the latest year in UNESCO's data for these rates.
Zimbabwe's gross enrolment ratio in tertiary education was 7.75% in 2024, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, compared with 11.05% in 2015.
The gross ratio compares the number of students in universities, polytechnics and colleges with the population of the five-year age group after secondary school, so it can include older students. ZIMSTAT's labour force survey found that 9.5% of the working-age population had higher education in the second quarter of 2025, according to its thematic report on education.
The figures below use one definition for every country, so they can differ from national figures.
The UNESCO Institute for Statistics puts gross tertiary enrolment in Zimbabwe at 7.7% in 2024. The peak was 11.0% in 2015 and the low 6.9% in 2010. Across Sub-Saharan Africa the middle value was 12.9%, and Zimbabwe placed 13th highest of 14. Worldwide: 87th of 90.
In 2019, the adult literacy rate in Zimbabwe was 93.2%, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. It is 2nd highest of 15 in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the median is 55.0%. World rank, highest first: 26th of 55.
0.4% of GDP: that is government spending on education in Zimbabwe for 2023, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. In 2014 the figure was 6.1% of GDP. Across Sub-Saharan Africa the middle value was 3.3% of GDP, and Zimbabwe placed 33rd highest of 35. World rank, highest first: 110th of 112.
The latest figure from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, for 2024, is 86.0%. Its high point since 2012 was 2015, at 89.2%; its low point was 2021, at 83.0%. Across Sub-Saharan Africa the middle value was 77.3%, and Zimbabwe placed 6th highest of 19. Worldwide: 81st of 104.
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