{"id": 1271741, "name": "Share of adults with no formal education (Lee & Lee + OECD)", "unit": "%", "createdAt": "2026-06-25T13:53:49.000Z", "updatedAt": "2026-06-26T08:54:41.000Z", "coverage": "", "timespan": "1870-2024", "datasetId": 8015, "shortUnit": "%", "columnOrder": 0, "shortName": "share_no_formal_education", "catalogPath": "grapher/oecd/2026-06-21/education_attainment_distribution/education_no_formal_combined#share_no_formal_education", "descriptionShort": "Share of adults with no formal education.", "descriptionProcessing": "For each country, we use OECD data from its earliest available year onward. For years before that, we use Lee & Lee (2016) historical estimates.", "type": "float", "grapherConfigIdETL": "019eff0e-f22c-768e-b662-19fca074b468", "dataChecksum": "8326430465470835816", "metadataChecksum": "-1936598997891847901", "datasetName": "Adults' educational attainment distribution", "updatePeriodDays": 365, "datasetVersion": "2026-06-21", "nonRedistributable": false, "display": {"name": "Share of adults with no formal education", "unit": "%", "shortUnit": "%"}, "schemaVersion": 2, "processingLevel": "major", "presentation": {"titlePublic": "Share of adults with no formal education", "attributionShort": "Lee and Lee; OECD", "topicTagsLinks": ["Global Education"]}, "descriptionKey": ["Going to school at all is the first and most basic step in a person's education. Two centuries ago, almost no one had that chance; today, in most countries, almost everyone does. This indicator tracks that change over time.", "It combines two sources. For OECD countries, recent figures come from the [OECD's Education at a Glance](https://data-explorer.oecd.org/?fs[0]=Topic,0%7CEducation%20and%20skills%23EDU%23&pg=0&fc=Topic&bp=true&snb=117), which surveys people directly. For everywhere else, and for earlier years, we rely on historical estimates from [Lee & Lee (2016)](http://piketty.pse.ens.fr/files/LeeLee2016.pdf), which go back to 1870.", "The two sources are similar but not identical. The OECD counts people with less than a primary education, while Lee & Lee count people with no education at all. The OECD also focuses on people aged 25 to 64, while Lee & Lee cover a slightly wider range, from 15 to 64.", "As with any indicator built by splicing different sources together, small jumps can appear in a country's series around the year it switches from one source to the other. These jumps reflect a change in measurement, not necessarily a real change in education levels."], "dimensions": {"years": {"values": [{"id": 1870}, {"id": 1875}, {"id": 1880}, {"id": 1885}, {"id": 1890}, {"id": 1895}, {"id": 1900}, {"id": 1905}, {"id": 1910}, {"id": 1915}, {"id": 1920}, {"id": 1925}, {"id": 1930}, {"id": 1935}, {"id": 1940}, {"id": 1945}, {"id": 1950}, {"id": 1955}, {"id": 1960}, {"id": 1965}, {"id": 1970}, {"id": 1975}, {"id": 1980}, {"id": 1985}, {"id": 1990}, {"id": 1995}, {"id": 2000}, {"id": 2005}, {"id": 2010}, {"id": 2004}, {"id": 2006}, {"id": 2008}, {"id": 2009}, {"id": 2011}, {"id": 2012}, {"id": 2013}, {"id": 2014}, {"id": 2017}, {"id": 2018}, {"id": 2019}, {"id": 2020}, {"id": 2021}, {"id": 2022}, {"id": 2023}, {"id": 2015}, {"id": 2016}, {"id": 2024}, {"id": 1987}, {"id": 1988}, {"id": 1989}, {"id": 1991}, {"id": 1992}, {"id": 1993}, {"id": 1994}, {"id": 1996}, {"id": 1997}, {"id": 1998}, {"id": 1999}, {"id": 2001}, {"id": 2002}, {"id": 2003}, {"id": 2007}]}, "entities": {"values": [{"id": 15, "name": "Afghanistan", "code": "AFG"}, {"id": 273, "name": "Africa", "code": "OWID_AFR"}, {"id": 16, "name": "Albania", "code": "ALB"}, {"id": 17, "name": "Algeria", "code": "DZA"}, {"id": 21, "name": "Argentina", "code": "ARG"}, {"id": 275, "name": "Asia", "code": "OWID_ASI"}, {"id": 23, "name": "Australia", "code": "AUS"}, {"id": 24, "name": "Austria", "code": "AUT"}, {"id": 28, "name": "Bangladesh", "code": "BGD"}, {"id": 29, "name": "Barbados", "code": "BRB"}, {"id": 4, "name": "Belgium", "code": "BEL"}, {"id": 31, "name": "Belize", "code": "BLZ"}, {"id": 32, "name": "Benin", "code": "BEN"}, {"id": 34, "name": "Bolivia", "code": "BOL"}, {"id": 37, "name": "Brazil", "code": "BRA"}, {"id": 39, "name": "Bulgaria", "code": "BGR"}, {"id": 42, "name": "Cambodia", "code": "KHM"}, {"id": 43, "name": "Cameroon", "code": "CMR"}, {"id": 44, "name": "Canada", "code": "CAN"}, {"id": 172, "name": "Chile", "code": "CHL"}, {"id": 171, "name": "China", "code": "CHN"}, {"id": 170, "name": "Colombia", "code": "COL"}, {"id": 166, "name": "Costa Rica", "code": "CRI"}, {"id": 143, "name": "Cote d'Ivoire", "code": "CIV"}, {"id": 165, "name": "Croatia", "code": "HRV"}, {"id": 164, "name": "Cuba", "code": "CUB"}, {"id": 163, "name": "Cyprus", "code": "CYP"}, {"id": 162, "name": "Czechia", "code": "CZE"}, {"id": 167, "name": "Democratic Republic of Congo", "code": "COD"}, {"id": 161, "name": "Denmark", "code": "DNK"}, {"id": 160, "name": "Dominican Republic", "code": "DOM"}, {"id": 201, "name": "Ecuador", "code": "ECU"}, {"id": 65, "name": "Egypt", "code": "EGY"}, {"id": 259, "name": "El Salvador", "code": "SLV"}, {"id": 156, "name": "Estonia", "code": "EST"}, {"id": 78, "name": "Eswatini", "code": "SWZ"}, {"id": 276, "name": "Europe", "code": "OWID_EUR"}, {"id": 202, "name": "Fiji", "code": "FJI"}, {"id": 155, "name": "Finland", "code": "FIN"}, {"id": 3, "name": "France", "code": "FRA"}, {"id": 151, "name": "Gambia", "code": "GMB"}, {"id": 6, "name": "Germany", "code": "DEU"}, {"id": 150, "name": "Ghana", "code": "GHA"}, {"id": 149, "name": "Greece", "code": "GRC"}, {"id": 148, "name": "Guatemala", "code": "GTM"}, {"id": 146, "name": "Guyana", "code": "GUY"}, {"id": 145, "name": "Haiti", "code": "HTI"}, {"id": 139, "name": "Honduras", "code": "HND"}, {"id": 144, "name": "Hong Kong", "code": "HKG"}, {"id": 138, "name": "Hungary", "code": "HUN"}, {"id": 207, "name": "Iceland", "code": "ISL"}, {"id": 137, "name": "India", "code": "IND"}, {"id": 136, "name": "Indonesia", "code": "IDN"}, {"id": 135, "name": "Iran", "code": "IRN"}, {"id": 134, "name": "Iraq", "code": "IRQ"}, {"id": 2, "name": "Ireland", "code": "IRL"}, {"id": 133, "name": "Israel", "code": "ISR"}, {"id": 8, "name": "Italy", "code": "ITA"}, {"id": 132, "name": "Jamaica", "code": "JAM"}, {"id": 14, "name": "Japan", "code": "JPN"}, {"id": 130, "name": "Jordan", "code": "JOR"}, {"id": 129, "name": "Kenya", "code": "KEN"}, {"id": 208, "name": "Kuwait", "code": "KWT"}, {"id": 122, "name": "Latvia", "code": "LVA"}, {"id": 123, "name": "Lesotho", "code": "LSO"}, {"id": 121, "name": "Liberia", "code": "LBR"}, {"id": 120, "name": "Libya", "code": "LBY"}, {"id": 119, "name": "Lithuania", "code": "LTU"}, {"id": 210, "name": "Luxembourg", "code": "LUX"}, {"id": 117, "name": "Malawi", "code": "MWI"}, {"id": 116, "name": "Malaysia", "code": "MYS"}, {"id": 115, "name": "Mali", "code": "MLI"}, {"id": 212, "name": "Malta", "code": "MLT"}, {"id": 213, "name": "Mauritius", "code": "MUS"}, {"id": 113, "name": "Mexico", "code": "MEX"}, {"id": 110, "name": "Morocco", "code": "MAR"}, {"id": 109, "name": "Mozambique", "code": "MOZ"}, {"id": 142, "name": "Myanmar", "code": "MMR"}, {"id": 107, "name": "Nepal", "code": "NPL"}, {"id": 5, "name": "Netherlands", "code": "NLD"}, {"id": 106, "name": "New Zealand", "code": "NZL"}, {"id": 105, "name": "Nicaragua", "code": "NIC"}, {"id": 104, "name": "Niger", "code": "NER"}, {"id": 294, "name": "North America", "code": "OWID_NAM"}, {"id": 102, "name": "Norway", "code": "NOR"}, {"id": 101, "name": "Pakistan", "code": "PAK"}, {"id": 100, "name": "Panama", "code": "PAN"}, {"id": 98, "name": "Paraguay", "code": "PRY"}, {"id": 97, "name": "Peru", "code": "PER"}, {"id": 96, "name": "Philippines", "code": "PHL"}, {"id": 11, "name": "Poland", "code": "POL"}, {"id": 95, "name": "Portugal", "code": "PRT"}, {"id": 245, "name": "Reunion", "code": "REU"}, {"id": 92, "name": "Romania", "code": "ROU"}, {"id": 12, "name": "Russia", "code": "RUS"}, {"id": 89, "name": "Senegal", "code": "SEN"}, {"id": 88, "name": "Serbia", "code": "SRB"}, {"id": 87, "name": "Sierra Leone", "code": "SLE"}, {"id": 85, "name": "Slovakia", "code": "SVK"}, {"id": 83, "name": "Slovenia", "code": "SVN"}, {"id": 81, "name": "South Africa", "code": "ZAF"}, {"id": 295, "name": "South America", "code": "OWID_SAM"}, {"id": 127, "name": "South Korea", "code": "KOR"}, {"id": 9, "name": "Spain", "code": "ESP"}, {"id": 141, "name": "Sri Lanka", "code": "LKA"}, {"id": 79, "name": "Sudan", "code": "SDN"}, {"id": 10, "name": "Sweden", "code": "SWE"}, {"id": 7, "name": "Switzerland", "code": "CHE"}, {"id": 77, "name": "Syria", "code": "SYR"}, {"id": 198, "name": "Taiwan", "code": "TWN"}, {"id": 75, "name": "Thailand", "code": "THA"}, {"id": 74, "name": "Togo", "code": "TGO"}, {"id": 73, "name": "Trinidad and Tobago", "code": "TTO"}, {"id": 71, "name": "Tunisia", "code": "TUN"}, {"id": 70, "name": "Turkey", "code": "TUR"}, {"id": 68, "name": "Uganda", "code": "UGA"}, {"id": 1, "name": "United Kingdom", "code": "GBR"}, {"id": 13, "name": "United States", "code": "USA"}, {"id": 63, "name": "Uruguay", "code": "URY"}, {"id": 238, "name": "Venezuela", "code": "VEN"}, {"id": 355, "name": "World", "code": "OWID_WRL"}, {"id": 61, "name": "Yemen", "code": "YEM"}, {"id": 60, "name": "Zambia", "code": "ZMB"}, {"id": 80, "name": "Zimbabwe", "code": "ZWE"}]}}, "origins": [{"id": 218, "title": "Human Capital in the Long Run", "description": "Datasets on estimated school enrollment ratios from 1820 to 2010 and estimated educational attainment for the total, female, and male populations from 1870 to 2010. The estimates are available in five-year intervals for 111 countries.\n\nDatasets were last updated in 2021 September. The research provides insightful analysis on the progression and trends of educational attainment over a long historical period, offering a comprehensive understanding of educational developments globally.\n", "producer": "Lee and Lee", "citationFull": "Lee, Jong-Wha and Hanol Lee, 2016, \u201cHuman Capital in the Long Run,\u201d Journal of Development Economics, vol. 122, pp. 147-169.", "urlMain": "https://barrolee.github.io/BarroLeeDataSet/DataLeeLee.html", "dateAccessed": "2023-11-20", "datePublished": "2016", "license": {"url": "https://barrolee.github.io/BarroLeeDataSet/OUPProj.html", "name": "2021 by Robert J. Barro and Jong-Wha Lee."}}, {"id": 15529, "title": "Adults' educational attainment distribution", "description": "Distribution of educational attainment among adults aged 25-64, by age group and gender.\nData are based on national labour force surveys, censuses, and household surveys, mapped to the ISCED 2011 classification.\nCovers OECD members and selected partner economies.", "producer": "OECD", "citationFull": "OECD (2026). Education at a Glance - Adults' educational attainment distribution, by age group and gender.", "attributionShort": "OECD", "urlMain": "https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/population-with-tertiary-education.html", "urlDownload": "https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.EDU.IMEP,DSD_EAG_LSO_EA@DF_LSO_NEAC_DISTR_EA,1.0/.F+M+_T.Y25T64.ISCED11A_0+ISCED11A_0T2+ISCED11A_3_4+ISCED11A_5T8..........OBS...A?startPeriod=1981&endPeriod=2024&dimensionAtObservation=AllDimensions&format=csvfilewithlabels", "dateAccessed": "2026-06-21", "datePublished": "2025", "license": {"url": "https://www.oecd.org/termsandconditions/", "name": "\u00a9 OECD"}}]}