STATISTICS IN BRIEF

  Education in Colombia Education - all levels 
  Latin America and the Caribbean
  General information
 2004
Total population (000)   44 915
Annual population growth rate (%)* (1) 1.7
Population 0-14 years(%)   31
Rural population (%)* (1) 24
Total fertility rate (births per woman) * (1) 2.5
Infant mortality rate (0/00) * (1) 18
Life expectancy at birth (years) * (1) 72
HIV rate (%) in adults (15-49 years)* (1) 0.7
Poverty (% of pop. on less than $2 a day) * (2) 23
GDP per capita (PPP) US$ * (1) 6 702
GDP growth rate (%)* (1) 3.9
Total debt service as a % of GNI * (1) 11.2
Children of primary school-age who are out-of-school  (%)   15
* World Bank World Development Indicators

  Participation in education
Percentages of children in school are represented by Gross Enrolment Ratios (GER) and Net Enrolment Rates (NER). GER is the number of pupils enrolled in a given level of education regardless of age expressed as a percentage of the population in the theoretical age group for that level of education. NER is the number of pupils in the theoretical age group who are enrolled expressed as a percentage of the same population.
Pre-primary enrolment
" 38 % of children are enrolled in pre-primary school
Pre-primary 1991 1999 2002 2004 2004
Regional average
GER
(%)		 MF   13   36   37   38 (3) 61
M   ...    36   37   37 (3) 61
F   ...    37   38   38 (3) 62
Primary enrolment
" 84 % of girls and 83 % of boys are in primary school
Primary 1991 1999 2002 2004 2004
Regional average
  GER 
(%)		 MF   103   113   110   111 (3) 118
M   102   113   111   112 (3) 120
F   104   112   110   111 (3) 116
  NER 
(%)		  MF   69   88   87   83 (3) 95
M   ... (3) 88 (3) 88   83 (3) 96
F   ... (3) 89 (3) 87   84 (3) 94
Secondary enrolment
" 58 % of girls and 52 % of boys are in secondary school
Secondary 1991 1999 2002 2004 2004
Regional average
  GER 
(%)		 MF   50   71   71   75 (3) 86
M   46   67   67   71 (3) 82
F   55   75   74   78 (3) 89
  NER 
(%)		  MF   34   54 (3) 55 (3) 55 (3) 67
M   ... (3) 52 (3) 53 (3) 52 (3) 65
F   ... (3) 57 (3) 58 (3) 58 (3) 69
Tertiary enrolment
" 27 % of the population of tertiary age in tertiary education
Tertiary 1991 1999 2002 2004 2004
Regional average
  GER 
(%)		  MF   14   22   24   27 (3) 28
M   14   21   23   26 (3) 26
F   14   23   25   28 (3) 30

  Progression and completion in education
 2004
School life expectancy ISCED 1-6 (years) (3) 12
Percentage of repeaters, primary (%)   4
Survival rate to grade 5 (%) (3)(1) 77
Gross intake ratio to last grade of primary (%)   94
Primary to secondary transition rate (%) (3)(1) 100
" 94 % of children complete a full course of primary

  Resources for education
 2004
Pupil / teacher ratio (primary)   28
Public expenditure on education :
     as % of GDP   4.9
     as % of total government expenditure   11.7
Distribution of public expenditure per level (%) :
     pre-primary   2
     primary   40
     secondary   29
     tertiary   13
     unknown   16
" 11.7% of government spending goes to education

  Literacy rates
Literacy rates  1990   2000-2004  2000-2004
Regional average
  Adult 
(15+)
%		 MF   88.4   92.8   90.2
M   88.8   92.9   91.0
F   88.1   92.7   89.5
  Youth 
(15-24)
%		  MF   94.9   98.0   96.6
M   94.3   97.6   96.2
F   95.5   98.4   97.0
" 92.8 % of adults and 98.0 % of youth are literate
  Symbols used :
-   Magnitude nil or negligible value
...   Data not available
.   Category not applicable
x   Charts symbol: Data not available
  Footnotes :
For more information about the calculation of rates of out-of-school children, see the UIS website.
(1) Data refer to 2003
(2) Data refer to 1999
(3) UIS estimation
June, 2006