⚠️ Unconfirmededucation2020

Average effective distance to a tertiary education institution (percent of population within 60 minutes)

Share of each country’s population that can reach a tertiary education institution within 60 minutes of travel time (2020).

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Key Insights

Global Average
68.0%
Median: 86.0%
Countries Covered
161
with available data
Highest
Singapore
99.7%
Lowest
Somalia
3.2%
Top 5 Countries
1Singapore99.7%
2Netherlands99.6%
3Switzerland99.6%
4Denmark99.5%
5Luxembourg99.5%
By Region
Oceania98.9%(2 countries)
Europe98.1%(32 countries)
South America87.4%(7 countries)
Asia85.4%(24 countries)
North America83.3%(4 countries)
Key Findings
  • Small, densely populated countries and high-income countries tend to have near-universal 60-minute access to tertiary institutions.
  • Large or sparsely populated countries can show high national averages while still having large remote regions with very low access.
  • Several low-income and conflict-affected countries have very low modeled access, reflecting limited institution networks and transport constraints.
  • This metric highlights spatial inequality in higher education access that is not visible in enrollment-rate indicators alone.

Country Rankings

Top 10 Countries

Bottom 10 Countries

Data Analysis

Value Distribution

How countries are distributed across the value range

Low (3.2%)High (99.9%)

Regional Comparison

Average values by world region (Global avg: 68.0%)

Oceania (2)
Europe (32)
South America (7)
Asia (24)
North America (4)
Africa (9)
Other (83)

About This Statistic

This statistic measures physical access to higher education by estimating what share of a country’s population can reach a tertiary (post‑secondary) education institution within 60 minutes of travel time, using modeled travel time across road networks and terrain combined with geolocated institution and population datasets.

It’s an intuitive way to compare “how close higher education is” across countries—capturing geographic barriers and settlement patterns. High values typically reflect dense networks of institutions and transport infrastructure, while lower values often occur where populations are dispersed, road networks are limited, or institutions are concentrated in a few cities.

Full Data

Rank Country Value
1Singapore99.7%
2Netherlands99.6%
3Switzerland99.6%
4Denmark99.5%
5Luxembourg99.5%
6Norway99.4%
7Sweden99.4%
8Belgium99.4%
9France99.3%
10United Arab Emirates99.3%
11United Kingdom99.3%
12Finland99.2%
13Germany99.2%
14South Korea99.2%
15Italy99.1%
16Kuwait99.1%
17Spain99.1%
18Australia99.1%
19Ireland99.0%
20Japan99.0%
21Mauritius99.0%
22Armenia99.0%
23Faroe Islands98.9%
24Portugal98.9%
25Estonia98.8%
26Israel98.8%
27New Zealand98.8%
28Trinidad and Tobago98.8%
29United States of America98.8%
30Fiji98.7%
31Greece98.7%
32Poland98.7%
33Slovenia98.7%
34Iceland98.6%
35Slovakia98.6%
36Hungary98.4%
37Czech Republic98.3%
38Saudi Arabia98.2%
39Bahrain98.2%
40Lithuania98.1%
41Oman98.0%
42Georgia97.9%
43Latvia97.8%
44Cyprus97.6%
45Croatia97.5%
46Afghanistan97.1%
47Bosnia and Herzegovina96.9%
48Barbados96.8%
49People's Republic of China96.5%
50Lebanon96.5%
51Argentina96.4%
52Jordan96.1%
53Belarus95.9%
54Serbia95.9%
55Uruguay95.9%
56Chile95.7%
57Türkiye95.6%
58Bulgaria95.2%
59Romania94.8%
60The Republic of North Macedonia94.6%
61Andorra94.2%
62Egypt94.1%
63Cuba94.0%
64Canada93.8%
65Russian Federation93.6%
66Algeria93.6%
67Malaysia93.4%
68Austria92.8%
69Ukraine92.7%
70Sri Lanka92.6%
71Islamic Republic of Iran92.3%
72Botswana92.1%
73Venezuela90.1%
74Costa Rica88.9%
75Iraq88.7%
76Tunisia88.6%
77Uzbekistan87.3%
78Brazil86.7%
79Libya86.4%
80Colombia86.2%
81Kazakhstan86.0%
82Dominican Republic85.6%
83Morocco85.3%
84Mexico84.7%
85Moldova, Republic of84.1%
86Thailand83.7%
87India78.6%
88Ecuador78.1%
89Central African Republic77.4%
90Nepal74.8%
91Mongolia74.3%
92Philippines74.2%
93Panama74.0%
94Peru72.9%
95Bangladesh72.5%
96Paraguay72.1%
97Vietnam70.4%
98South Africa68.8%
99Syrian Arab Republic67.5%
100Kyrgyzstan64.2%
101Tajikistan63.8%
102Indonesia63.1%
103Belize58.4%
104Pakistan56.6%
105Guatemala55.9%
106Bolivia55.1%
107Nigeria53.8%
108Honduras53.7%
109Nicaragua53.2%
110Gabon53.0%
111Timor-Leste48.7%
112El Salvador46.8%
113Ghana44.9%
114Cote d'Ivoire42.1%
115Myanmar41.7%
116Kenya40.8%
117Namibia39.8%
118Brunei Darussalam36.6%
119Cambodia35.3%
120Haiti35.0%
121Suriname33.5%
122Guinea-Bissau31.0%
123Cameroon30.2%
124Republic of The Gambia28.7%
125Senegal27.2%
126Zimbabwe26.9%
127Republic of the Congo26.5%
128Sudan26.0%
129Guinea24.3%
130Lesotho22.6%
131Mali21.9%
132Mauritania20.5%
133Djibouti20.4%
134Togo20.2%
135Zambia20.1%
136Lao People's Democratic Republic19.3%
137Sierra Leone18.8%
138United Republic of Tanzania18.7%
139Ethiopia18.6%
140Albania18.4%
141Rwanda18.1%
142Solomon Islands17.9%
143Yemen17.5%
144Burkina Faso17.2%
145Eswatini16.3%
146Uganda15.4%
147New Caledonia14.8%
148Democratic Republic of the Congo14.7%
149Mozambique14.5%
150Madagascar13.6%
151Liberia12.7%
152Malawi12.4%
153Niger11.3%
154Angola10.8%
155Benin10.2%
156Burundi9.4%
157Papua New Guinea8.9%
158Chad8.1%
159Eritrea7.3%
160South Sudan6.1%
161Somalia3.2%
Showing 161 of 161 countries

Topics

Data Source

This data comes from World Bank (Global Education Policy Dashboard / Global Education Analytics – access to education services, modeled) (2020).

View Original Source