UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) data for 2024 show a very wide spread in the number of pupils repeating Grade 6 of primary education. Among the 76 countries and territories with an observation, Malawi is highest at 113,926, followed by Niger at 104,733, Ethiopia at 103,491, Côte d’Ivoire at 96,403, and Cameroon at 63,871. The median is only 695, while the mean is 9,495 because the largest observations pull the average sharply upward.
The UIS definition of the number of repeaters refers to pupils from a cohort enrolled in a grade who study in the same grade again in the following school year. The definition includes pupils who repeat the grade more than once and those who repeat after transferring schools. Pupils who were not studying that grade in the previous year should be excluded. The indicator used here is the both-sexes absolute count for Grade 6 of primary education.
Table of Contents
Malawi, Niger, and Ethiopia account for about 45% of the observed sum
Adding the 76 supplied observations gives about 721,593 repeaters. This is not a world total because only countries and territories with a 2024 observation in this extract are included. Within that observed set, Malawi, Niger, and Ethiopia account for 44.6% of the sum. The five largest observations account for 66.9%, and the top ten for 83.6%.
The upper end is concentrated heavily in Sub-Saharan Africa, with Malawi, Niger, Ethiopia, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, and Burkina Faso all among the largest observations. Morocco and Egypt also appear in the top ten, while the Philippines, Mexico, Spain, Cambodia, and Guatemala show that large absolute counts are not exclusive to one region. The map identifies where counts are large; it does not identify why.
| Rank | Country or territory | Grade 6 repeaters in 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Malawi | 113,926 |
| 2 | Niger | 104,733 |
| 3 | Ethiopia | 103,491 |
| 4 | Côte d’Ivoire | 96,403 |
| 5 | Cameroon | 63,871 |
| 6 | Burkina Faso | 40,145 |
| 7 | Morocco | 28,061 |
| 8 | Egypt | 24,697 |
| 9 | Philippines | 13,949 |
| 10 | Senegal | 13,621 |
| 11 | Mexico | 11,400 |
| 12 | Namibia | 11,009 |
| 13 | Spain | 9,430 |
| 14 | Rwanda | 7,505 |
| 15 | Cambodia | about 7,416 |
Absolute counts do not tell us where repetition is most common
The unit is number of pupils, which makes population and enrolment size central to interpretation. A country with a large Grade 6 cohort can have more repeaters than a smaller country even if the probability of repeating is the same or lower. A small country can show a tiny count even when repetition represents a meaningful share of its Grade 6 pupils.
The separate UIS repetition-rate-by-grade measure divides the number of repeaters in a grade by the relevant enrolled cohort from the previous school year. That percentage is the more direct measure for asking where repetition is relatively prevalent. The current count answers a scale question—how many pupils repeat—rather than a prevalence question.
Only five observations are above 50,000
5 observations are at or above 50,000 repeaters, while 7 fall between 10,000 and 49,999. 7 are between 5,000 and 9,999, and 16 are between 1,000 and 4,999. At the lower end, 7 observations are below 10 and 13 are between 10 and 49.
| Grade 6 repeater count | Countries or territories | Share of observations |
|---|---|---|
| Below 10 | 7 | 9.2% |
| 10–49 | 13 | 17.1% |
| 50–99 | 3 | 3.9% |
| 100–499 | 13 | 17.1% |
| 500–999 | 5 | 6.6% |
| 1,000–4,999 | 16 | 21.1% |
| 5,000–9,999 | 7 | 9.2% |
| 10,000–49,999 | 7 | 9.2% |
| 50,000 or more | 5 | 6.6% |
The middle half of the distribution lies between about 44 and 4,743, compared with a median of 695. The range extends from single-digit counts to more than one hundred thousand, producing a strongly right-skewed distribution. The simple mean should therefore not be interpreted as a typical national Grade 6 repeater count.
Grade 6 is not necessarily the final primary grade in every education system
The indicator names a specific grade within primary education. Primary programmes do not have exactly the same duration in every country, so Grade 6 is not automatically the final primary grade everywhere. Calling the measure a universal ‘final-year primary repeater count’ would therefore go beyond what the indicator establishes.
International education statistics map national programmes and grade structures into common reporting frameworks, but national system design still matters. A detailed country comparison should check the official duration of primary education and how Grade 6 fits within that system. This article keeps the UIS wording—Grade 6 of primary education—rather than assuming a common graduation point.
Repetition is different from dropout and being out of school
A repeater remains enrolled in education and studies the same grade again. That is different from an out-of-school child, who is not enrolled in the relevant education system, and different from a pupil who dropped out and did not return. The concepts can interact within pupil-flow analysis, but they measure different states.
Repetition is also not the same as occasional absence or retaking one examination. The indicator concerns repeating the grade and predominantly the same subject matter in a subsequent school year. Progression, repetition, dropout, and re-entry should therefore be analyzed with separate measures.
A high repeater count is not a direct measure of teaching quality
UIS treats repetition as an important indicator of internal efficiency, but the count alone cannot establish a cause. Countries differ in promotion rules, assessment systems, the number of repetitions allowed, school capacity, remedial support, enrolment size, and the use of automatic promotion.
A system with strict promotion rules may record more repeaters than one that uses automatic progression and intensive catch-up support. That difference does not by itself establish which system has better learning outcomes. A stronger diagnosis would combine repetition rates with enrolment, learning proficiency, attendance, dropout, teacher resources, and country-specific policy evidence.
The smallest counts are concentrated in small countries and territories
Turks and Caicos Islands records 1 repeater, the British Virgin Islands 2, Andorra and Cyprus 3 each, the Solomon Islands 4, Tonga 5, and Palau 6. Brunei records 11, Bahrain 12, and Dominica 15. These very small counts are strongly affected by the size of the Grade 6 pupil population.
| Low-count order | Country or territory | Grade 6 repeaters in 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Turks and Caicos Islands | 1 |
| 2 | British Virgin Islands | 2 |
| 3 | Andorra | 3 |
| 4 | Cyprus | 3 |
| 5 | Solomon Islands | 4 |
| 6 | Tonga | 5 |
| 7 | Palau | 6 |
| 8 | Brunei Darussalam | 11 |
| 9 | Bahrain | 12 |
| 10 | Dominica | 15 |
| 11 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 18 |
| 12 | Grenada | 19 |
| 13 | Republic of Korea | 19 |
| 14 | China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region | 20 |
| 15 | Mauritius | 21 |
A low absolute count should not be treated as proof that repetition is rare relative to the size of the education system. For small countries and territories, even a few pupils can represent a noticeable proportion of Grade 6 enrolment. Counts are most useful for understanding the number of pupils affected, while rates are needed for relative comparisons.
A low-count peer example shows why a denominator still matters
The Republic of Korea records 19 repeaters in the supplied 2024 dataset, placing it near the low end of the 76 observations. That figure alone does not establish Korea’s repetition rate or provide a complete education-system ranking. The Grade 6 enrolment denominator and the national promotion rules would be needed for a meaningful prevalence comparison.
Same-year coverage improves comparability, but only 76 observations are available
All 76 supplied rows use the 2024 reference year, which avoids mixing older and newer observations. Coverage is still incomplete. Several large countries familiar to readers may be absent from the extract, and missing countries are not assigned zero.
Administrative education statistics can have different reporting schedules and data availability across countries. The rankings, mean, median, and observed sum in this article therefore describe the 76 available observations rather than every education system worldwide. No values are imputed for countries without a 2024 row.
Data scope and source
The analysis uses 76 national-level 2024 observations from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics official API indicator 21510, titled ‘Repeaters in Grade 6 of primary education, both sexes (number)’. The unit is an absolute number of pupils. The observed sum, mean, median, value bands, and rankings are calculated directly from the supplied values.
The map places each country or territory at a representative location and colors it by the published count. Because the range runs from 1 to 113,926, a logarithmic color scale is used. Missing observations are not converted to zero, and the map should not be interpreted as a repetition-rate map.
The main takeaway
Malawi records 113,926 Grade 6 repeaters in 2024, followed by Niger at 104,733 and Ethiopia at 103,491. The three largest observations account for 44.6% of the observed sum. These are absolute counts, however, so they are strongly shaped by the size of each Grade 6 pupil population. Use this indicator to understand the scale of grade repetition, and use a repetition rate when the question is how common repetition is relative to enrolment.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does UIS define a repeater?
A repeater is a pupil who was enrolled in a grade and studies the same grade again in the following school year. The definition can include pupils repeating more than once and those who repeat after transferring schools.
Does a larger repeater count mean a higher repetition rate?
No. Absolute counts depend on the size of the Grade 6 cohort. A repetition rate uses the relevant enrolled cohort as the denominator and is better for comparing prevalence.
Is Grade 6 the final primary grade in every country?
No. Primary-education duration and grade structure differ across education systems, so Grade 6 should not automatically be treated as the universal final primary year.
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