Governments are increasingly looking to international comparisons of education systems as they develop policies to enhance individuals’ social and economic prospects, provide incentives for greater efficiency in schooling, and help to mobilise resources to meet rising demands. The OECD Directorate for Education and Skills contributes to these efforts by developing and analysing quantitative, internationally comparable indicators that it publishes annually in Education at a Glance. Together with OECD policy work, these indicators assist governments in building more effective and equitable education systems. Beyond government officials, Education at a Glance also aims to support researchers with data for further analysis and help the general public understand how their countries’ education systems compare internationally.

High quality education systems, with fair access for children from all social and economic backgrounds, can be a means to lift people out of poverty and empower students to reach their full potential. There has been good progress in educational attainment and outcomes, for example, with a significant drop in the share of 25–34 year-olds without an upper secondary qualification, which has decreased from 17% in 2016 to 14% in 2023, in many countries. However, challenges remain in achieving equality of opportunity.

Education at a Glance 2024: OECD Indicators offers a rich, comparable and up-to-date array of indicators that reflect a consensus among professionals on how to measure the current state of education internationally. The indicators provide information on the human and financial resources invested in education, how education and learning systems operate and evolve, and the returns to investments in education. They are organised thematically in parts, each accompanied by information on the policy context and interpretation of the data.

Education at a Glance is the definitive guide to the state of education around the world. It analyses all levels of education and provides data on topics such as attainment, enrolment, finance and the organisation of education systems. The 2024 edition focuses on equity in education. Readers interested in a summary of the findings on this topic are referred to the accompanying Spotlight on Equity.

Among OECD and partner countries, there are small differences between boys and girls in participation in organised education before the start of primary school (Figure 2). The widest gap is found in South Africa, where 70% of boys are enrolled in pre-primary education compared to 57% of girls. The difference is smaller but important in Brazil and Indonesia, where the proportion of boys enrolled in pre-primary is at least 4 percentage points higher than that of girls (Table 1).