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Photo: Talk2winik · CC0 · via Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale
Topic 04 of 18 · Country Index 2026
Honduras: Education & Knowledge
How far does a country's schooling carry its children?
Honduras is placed joint 115th of 171 countries on education & knowledge in the Country Index 2026, from 4 of its 4 key statistics. Readings behind it: Upper Secondary Completion Rate 48.1 (2025); Youth Literacy Rate 95.77 (2024).
Education & Knowledge
joint115th
of 171 countries placed
Placed from 4 of 4 key statistics
- 48.1Upper Secondary Completion Rate, 2025Upper secondary completion rate (%)
- 95.77Youth Literacy Rate, 202415–24 year-olds who can read and write (%)
- 4.55Government Spending on Education, 2023Government expenditure on education (% of GDP)
- 26.62Out-of-School Rate, Primary, 2024Out-of-school rate, primary age (%)
01The evidence
The 4 key statistics that decide it
Only these place Honduras on education & knowledge — one vote each. Every value is the publisher’s own, read at the edition the Country Index 2026 used — or, for a survey-based key, each country’s latest reading; the grey ticks are every other country it was compared with, lowest on the left.
Key 1 of 4
Upper Secondary Completion Rate
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)
Why it is a key: How far a schooling system carries the young people who get through primary — the only key here that measures anything past childhood.
2025 edition · data for 2025 · CC BY-SA 4.0
48.1
Upper secondary completion rate (%)
Higher is better
Honduras: 48.1. Across the 164 countries in this edition, values run from 2.13 (South Sudan) to 99.27 (South Korea); the world median is 64.87.
- World median
- 64.87
- Best in Central America
- 64.22 Panama
- Land neighbours
- Guatemala 40.82 · Nicaragua 39.5 · El Salvador 36.1
Each grey tick is one of 164 countries in the 2025 edition.
Key 2 of 4
Youth Literacy Rate
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)
Why it is a key: Whether 15- to 24-year-olds can read and write — the only key here that tests what a schooling system produced, rather than how many passed through it or what it cost.
Latest reading per country, 2014–2024 · Honduras’s is from 2024 · CC BY-SA 4.0
95.77
15–24 year-olds who can read and write (%)
Higher is better
Honduras: 95.77. Across the 174 countries at their latest reading, values run from 36.7 (South Sudan) to 100 (Uzbekistan); the world median is 98.22.
- World median
- 98.22
- Best in Central America
- 99.2 Panama
- Land neighbours
- Guatemala 95.36 · Nicaragua 95.3 · El Salvador 98.24
Each grey tick is one of 174 countries at its latest reading, 2014–2024.
Key 3 of 4
Government Spending on Education
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)
Why it is a key: What a state chooses to spend on education, as a share of its economy — the input, where the other two keys measure reach.
2023 edition · data for 2023 · CC BY-SA 4.0
4.55
Government expenditure on education (% of GDP)
Higher is better
Honduras: 4.55. Across the 123 countries in this edition, values run from 0 (Somalia) to 16.39 (Kiribati); the world median is 3.709.
- World median
- 3.709
- Best in Central America
- 5.312 Costa Rica
- Land neighbours
- Guatemala 3.109 · Nicaragua 2.87 · El Salvador 3.187
Each grey tick is one of 123 countries in the 2023 edition.
Key 4 of 4
Out-of-School Rate, Primary
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)
Why it is a key: Primary-age children who are not in school at all: the floor of an education system.
2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY-SA 4.0
26.62
Out-of-school rate, primary age (%)
Lower is better
Honduras: 26.62. Across the 121 countries in this edition, values run from 0.004 (United Arab Emirates) to 64.73 (South Sudan); the world median is 3.691.
- World median
- 3.691
- Best in Central America
- 0.363 Mexico
- Land neighbours
- Guatemala 8.432 · El Salvador 15.26
Each grey tick is one of 121 countries in the 2024 edition.
02Over time
Which way Honduras is moving
Each key’s published value, edition by edition, beside the world median. The Country Index 2026 is the first edition of the standing, so the standing itself has no history to chart yet.
Upper Secondary Completion Rate
Upper secondary completion rate (%) · higher is better
HondurasWorld median
Honduras rose from 18.04 in 2000 to 48.1 in 2025; the world median went from 38 to 64.87.
Every year’s figures
Year Honduras World median 2025 48.1 64.9 2024 47.2 65.0 2023 46.5 64.2 2022 45.7 63.6 2021 44.9 62.9 2020 44.0 62.2 2019 43.2 61.5 2018 42.5 60.9 2017 41.7 60.5 2016 40.9 60.1 2015 40.1 58.9 2014 39.4 57.0 2013 38.6 54.7 2012 37.4 52.4 2011 35.9 50.9 2010 34.0 49.5 2009 32.1 48.5 2008 30.2 47.4 2007 28.5 46.2 2006 26.8 45.0 2005 25.0 43.8 2004 23.2 42.9 2003 21.5 41.6 2002 20.0 40.3 2001 18.8 39.0 2000 18.0 38.0 Government Spending on Education
Government expenditure on education (% of GDP) · higher is better
HondurasWorld median
Honduras fell from 6.3 in 2012 to 4.55 in 2023; the world median went from 4.035 to 3.709.
Every year’s figures
Year Honduras World median 2023 4.550 3.7092 2022 4.483 4.0570 2021 5.882 4.2611 2020 6.098 4.4056 2019 5.982 4.1407 2018 6.056 4.2159 2017 5.744 4.1401 2016 6.095 4.2342 2015 6.413 4.2386 2014 7.090 4.2005 2013 5.875 4.3493 2012 6.300 4.0348 2011 — 3.9987 2010 — 4.1396 2009 — 4.6638 2008 — 4.4226 2007 — 4.1717 2006 — 4.0593 2005 — 4.0557 2004 — 3.9745 2003 — 4.1595 2002 — 4.0173 2001 — 4.1002 2000 — 3.8861 Out-of-School Rate, Primary
Out-of-school rate, primary age (%) · lower is better
HondurasWorld median
Honduras rose from 14.71 in 2000 to 26.62 in 2024; the world median went from 8.642 to 3.691.
Every year’s figures
Year Honduras World median 2024 26.62 3.691 2023 23.90 3.393 2022 23.47 3.002 2021 24.77 3.330 2020 21.73 2.678 2019 17.82 2.758 2018 — 2.439 2017 20.99 2.907 2016 21.79 2.954 2015 22.75 3.052 2014 21.56 3.904 2013 20.68 3.413 2012 16.76 3.408 2011 14.04 3.626 2010 13.59 3.491 2009 13.84 3.577 2008 11.98 3.878 2007 14.67 4.029 2006 9.11 4.338 2005 13.08 4.571 2004 8.94 3.791 2003 9.92 4.412 2002 — 4.144 2001 — 4.051 2000 14.71 8.642
03In context
Honduras beside its neighbours
A position reads best beside the countries around it. Every position below is a place among all 171 countries on education & knowledge, never a place within the region.
1st171stNot placed · 53 countries with too few key statisticsNo data
Honduras and the countries it borders
The standing is each country’s place among all 171 placed on the topic; the other columns are the publishers’ own values, read at the edition the standing used.
| Country | Standing | Upper Secondary Completion RateUpper secondary completion rate (%) | Youth Literacy Rate15–24 year-olds who can read and write (%) | Government Spending on EducationGovernment expenditure on education (% of GDP) | Out-of-School Rate, PrimaryOut-of-school rate, primary age (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honduras | =115th | 48.1 | 95.77 | 4.55 | 26.62 |
 Guatemala | 124th | 40.82 | 95.36 | 3.109 | 8.432 |
 Nicaragua | 125th | 39.5 | 95.3 | 2.87 | — |
 El Salvador | 126th | 36.1 | 98.24 | 3.187 | 15.26 |
“—” means the publisher gives no reading for that country in that edition. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed.
Across Central America
Every country in the sub-region, by its place among all 171.
Placed either side on education & knowledge
The countries immediately above and below Honduras in the topic’s list.
04Context, no vote
Where Honduras is ahead of the world, and behind
16 more statistics filed under education & knowledge, published in full and deliberately given no vote in the standing. Select a row for the publisher, the rank and the links.
Ahead of the world median1
Statistics on which Honduras does better than the middle country measured.
Academic Freedom IndexV-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg · 2025 · world median 0.6190.9310.619▲ Improved since 2015
Honduras: 0.931 · world median 0.619 · Academic freedom index (0–1). V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 0.019 to 0.978; higher is better.
Position 7th of 176 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Behind the world median14
Statistics on which Honduras does worse than the middle country measured.
Inbound Mobility Rate, TertiaryUIS · 2024 · world median 5.4944.8145.494▲ Improved since 2014
Honduras: 4.814 · world median 5.494 · Inbound mobility rate, tertiary (%). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 87.12; higher is better.
Position 40th of 75 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Harmonized Test ScoresWorld Bank Group · 2020 · world median 414.32399.75414.32No real change since 2017
Honduras: 399.75 · world median 414.32 · Harmonized test score (TIMSS-equivalent points; 300 = minimum, 625 = advanced attainment). World Bank Group, 2020 edition, data for 2020.
Published values in that edition run from 304.92 to 575.27; higher is better.
Position 102nd of 172 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Adult Literacy RateUIS · 2024 · world median 93.9988.2593.99No earlier reading
Honduras: 88.25 · world median 93.99 · Adults 15+ who can read and write (%). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 26.83 to 100; higher is better.
Position 108th of 172 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Primary Completion RateUIS · 2025 · world median 97.4389.5797.43No real change since 2015
Honduras: 89.57 · world median 97.43 · Primary completion rate (%). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 7.94 to 100; higher is better.
Position 109th of 165 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Mean Years of SchoolingUNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · world median 9.9337.519.933▲ Improved since 2013
Honduras: 7.51 · world median 9.933 · Mean years of schooling (adults 25+). UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 1.412 to 14.3; higher is better.
Position 133rd of 193 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Researchers per Million InhabitantsUIS · 2024 · world median 701.95187.84701.95No earlier reading
Honduras: 187.84 · world median 701.95 · Researchers per million inhabitants (full-time equivalent). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 1.446 to 18,130; higher is better.
Position 100th of 145 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Learning-Adjusted Years of SchoolWorld Bank Group · 2020 · world median 7.9416.1347.941▼ Worsened since 2017
Honduras: 6.134 · world median 7.941 · Learning-adjusted years of school (0–14). World Bank Group, 2020 edition, data for 2020.
Published values in that edition run from 2.207 to 12.81; higher is better.
Position 125th of 172 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Tertiary Enrolment RatioUIS · 2024 · world median 52.7723.3252.77▼ Worsened since 2014
Honduras: 23.32 · world median 52.77 · Gross enrolment ratio, tertiary (%). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 2.566 to 141.86; higher is better.
Position 71st of 95 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Learning PovertyWorld Bank Group and UNESCO Institute for Statistics · 2023 · world median 34.0279.2934.02No earlier reading
Honduras: 79.29 · world median 34.02 · 10-year-olds who cannot read and understand a simple text (%). World Bank Group and UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 2.331 to 98.5; lower is better.
Position 24th of 125 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Pre-Primary Net Enrolment RateUIS · 2024 · world median 65.9328.3265.93▼ Worsened since 2014
Honduras: 28.32 · world median 65.93 · Net enrolment rate, pre-primary (%). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 1.779 to 99.85; higher is better.
Position 103rd of 120 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Expected Years of SchoolingUNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · world median 13.3410.1613.34No real change since 2013
Honduras: 10.16 · world median 13.34 · Expected years of schooling. UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 5.635 to 21.69; higher is better.
Position 172nd of 195 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Upper Secondary AttainmentUIS · 2023 · world median 65.7621.6565.76▼ Worsened since 2013
Honduras: 21.65 · world median 65.76 · Adults 25+ who completed upper secondary or higher (%). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 5.26 to 97.89; higher is better.
Position 87th of 95 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Secondary School EnrolmentUIS · 2024 · world median 93.1951.7693.19▼ Worsened since 2014
Honduras: 51.76 · world median 93.19 · Gross secondary enrolment ratio (%). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 19.87 to 158.55; higher is better.
Position 102nd of 109 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
School Life ExpectancyUIS · 2024 · world median 14.598.84514.59▼ Worsened since 2014
Honduras: 8.845 · world median 14.59 · School life expectancy, primary to tertiary (years). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 7.478 to 21.01; higher is better.
Position 75th of 77 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
No better end1
These describe the shape of a country — more is not better or worse, only different — so they are never ahead or behind.
Female Share of ResearchersUIS · 2024 · world median 38.1747.8238.17No earlier reading
Honduras: 47.82 · world median 38.17 · Researchers who are women (% of headcount; 50 = parity). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 76.54.
No current reading for Honduras
Government Funding per Primary Student (last 2013), Outbound Mobility Ratio, Tertiary (last 2019), PISA Mathematics Performance, PISA Reading Performance, PISA Science Performance and Research and Development Spending (last 2019). Listed rather than hidden, so the page can be checked against it.
05Country Index 2026
Education & Knowledge among Honduras’s 16 topics
Education & Knowledge is Honduras’s 12th best-placed topic of 16. Strongest first; each marker sits at the position divided by that topic’s field, so fields of different sizes compare fairly.
- Environment & Sustainability49th of 1812/3 keys
- Work & Labourjoint 78th of 1824/4 keys
- Energy87th of 1933/3 keys
- Gender & Equalityjoint 90th of 1834/4 keys
- Peace & Securityjoint 91st of 1774/4 keys
- Mobility & Trade93rd of 1473/3 keys
- Development & Human Capital126th of 1963/3 keys
- Economy & Innovation115th of 1764/4 keys
- Health & Wellbeing132nd of 2004/4 keys
- Democracy & Civil Libertiesjoint 131st of 1983/3 keys
- Governance & Institutions129th of 1944/4 keys
- Education & Knowledgejoint 115th of 1714/4 keys
- Digital & Technology135th of 1983/3 keys
- Food & Agriculture121st of 1754/4 keys
- Risk & Resilience166th of 1923/3 keys
- Poverty & Inequality146th of 1592/2 keys
06The top of the list
Who leads on education & knowledge
The three countries placed highest of 171, and the leaders Honduras can most readily be measured against.
1
South KoreaEastern Asia
1st of 171 · 2 of 4 keys
Photo: Unknown author · CC BY-SA 2.0, greyscale
2
UzbekistanCentral Asia
2nd of 171 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra · CC BY 2.0, greyscale
3
PolandEastern Europe
3rd of 171 · 2 of 4 keys
Photo: Ralf Lotys (Sicherlich) · CC BY 3.0, greyscale
Placed highest nearby
Highest in Americas
Turks and Caicos Islands=32nd3/4 keysHighest in Central America
Mexico=44th3/4 keysThis page
Honduras=115th4/4 keys
Positions out of 171 placed on the topic. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed, and the top of the list is often held on fewer of them.
07Questions
Honduras on education & knowledge: questions answered
Every answer is built from the numbers on this page, so none can say something the page does not.
How does Honduras rank on education & knowledge?
Honduras is placed joint 115th of 171 countries on Education & Knowledge in the Country Index 2026, from 4 of its 4 key statistics (Upper Secondary Completion Rate, Youth Literacy Rate, Government Spending on Education and Out-of-School Rate, Primary). The position is this site’s ordering of published statistics, not a rank any publisher printed.
What is the latest Upper Secondary Completion Rate figure for Honduras?
48.1 in 2025 (upper secondary completion rate (%)), according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). The world median in the same edition was 64.87.
What is the latest Youth Literacy Rate figure for Honduras?
95.77 in 2024 (15–24 year-olds who can read and write (%)), according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). The world median in the same edition was 98.22.
How does Honduras compare with Guatemala on education & knowledge?
Guatemala is placed 124th of 171, and Honduras joint 115th. Upper Secondary Completion Rate: Guatemala 40.82, Honduras 48.1; Youth Literacy Rate: Guatemala 95.36, Honduras 95.77; Government Spending on Education: Guatemala 3.109, Honduras 4.55; Out-of-School Rate, Primary: Guatemala 8.432, Honduras 26.62.
How have Honduras’s education & knowledge figures changed?
Upper Secondary Completion Rate rose from 18.04 in 2000 to 48.1 in 2025; Government Spending on Education fell from 6.3 in 2012 to 4.55 in 2023; Out-of-School Rate, Primary rose from 14.71 in 2000 to 26.62 in 2024.
Which education & knowledge statistics are missing for Honduras?
No current reading is published for Honduras on Government Funding per Primary Student, Outbound Mobility Ratio, Tertiary, PISA Mathematics Performance, PISA Reading Performance, PISA Science Performance and Research and Development Spending. They are listed rather than hidden, so the evidence on the page can be checked against it.
08Keep reading
Explore further
Honduras, topic by topic
- Governance & Institutions129th of 194
- Economy & Innovation115th of 176
- Work & Labour=78th of 182
- Health & Wellbeing132nd of 200
- Development & Human Capital126th of 196
- Environment & Sustainability49th of 181
- Gender & Equality=90th of 183
- Democracy & Civil Liberties=131st of 198
- Peace & Security=91st of 177
- Risk & Resilience166th of 192
- Mobility & Trade93rd of 147
- Food & Agriculture121st of 175
- Poverty & Inequality146th of 159
- Energy87th of 193
- Digital & Technology135th of 198
- The full Honduras profile
Nearby, on education & knowledge
The key statistics, for every country
09Method
Method, sources and how to cite
What this topic does not measure
How much children actually learn is only partly covered. International test scores exist for a limited group of countries, and they are published here as context rather than used as a key, because a key must describe most of the world. Universities, research and adult literacy also appear as context.
How the Education & Knowledge standing is decided, step by step
A standing is a place in a list, not a mark out of anything. This one is part of the Country Index 2026, and it is worked out like this.
- A few key indicators decide it; the rest are context. 4 indicators on this topic are keys and 22 are charted alongside them without a vote. That split is the point: if every statistic voted, importing five more of one kind would quietly change what the topic is about.
- Each key is read at one edition. ⚠ The keys behind this standing do not all describe the same year — they run from 2023 to 2025, because publishers release on their own schedules. Read the standing as “how this country places now”, not as a snapshot of one year.
- Every country’s published value is turned into a place within that one key’s own field, and then expressed as a share of that field — how far down this key’s list the country sits, rather than how many countries are above it. Keys where a higher published number is worse (terrorism, hunger, disaster risk) are turned round first, so the good end is always the same end.
- Dividing by the field first is the whole reason this works. A place carries the size of its list inside it: 22nd of 44 and 108th of 215 are the same showing, and averaging the numbers 22 and 108 says loudly that they are not. Fields on this site run from about 44 countries to about 215, so averaging raw places would reward a country for happening to be measured in small ones. Dividing each place by its own field removes the size and leaves only the showing.
- The shares are averaged, plainly. One key, one vote — no key is weighted above another, because any weighting would be this site’s opinion presented as a measurement. Countries are then put in order by that average, and the average itself is never published. It is our arithmetic with nothing anchoring it, so printing it would invite it to be read as a measurement somebody made. The position it produces, the band, and the keys it was built from are all published instead — every one of them checkable against the tables on this page.
- A country needs 2 of this topic’s 4 keys — half, rounded up, and never fewer than 2. A standing built from one reading, printed beside one built from four, is two different things sharing a column heading. 171 countries clear the bar here.
- A key has to earn its vote every edition. It must measure at least 120 countries (below that it starts measuring who was surveyed rather than the world), it must not have more than 10% of its field tied at either end, and it must not repeat another key in the same topic — Spearman correlation above 0.92 counts as repeating. A topic needs at least 2 surviving keys to place anyone at all; this one has 4.
- A standing is relative, and the grouping is ours. It says where a country places against the others measured alongside it, so it moves when they move. The publishers listed on this page did not agree to be read together, and each measures its subject its own way: the underlying numbers are theirs, the ordering on top is this site’s — the same method as the rest of the Country Index, applied to one subject instead of all of them.
The key statistics and their licences
- Upper Secondary Completion Rate — UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), CC BY-SA 4.0
- Youth Literacy Rate — UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), CC BY-SA 4.0
- Government Spending on Education — UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), CC BY-SA 4.0
- Out-of-School Rate, Primary — UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), CC BY-SA 4.0
The other 16 statistics on this page come from 5 publishers, each named beside its numbers, with every edition and licence on the datasets pages.
The standing itself is part of the Country Index 2026, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photographs
Honduras’s banner and the countries placed highest, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Honduras (banner) — Talk2winik, CC0
- South Korea — Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Uzbekistan — Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC BY 2.0
- Poland — Ralf Lotys (Sicherlich), CC BY 3.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Honduras: Education & Knowledge — standing and statistics, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/countries/honduras/education