country profile

Gabon

Sub-Saharan AfricaUpper middle income2.59M population

Last updated October 1, 2026

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Severely underprepared

Composite GEFRI Score

Limited relative strength in Infrastructure, with deep gaps in Access & Parity

Gabon shows severely limited readiness to meet the challenges and opportunities of education in a rapidly changing world (28th percentile worldwide). Key structural conditions limit capacity to plan, implement, and sustain forward-looking reforms.

43.09Composite score
Global percentile
28th
Global rank
#129
Regional rank
#11
Viewing data for
Progressing readiness
Infrastructure
70.16
38th percentileGlobal avg. 70.44
Emerging readiness
Human Capital
53.62
27th percentileGlobal avg. 66.18
Severely underprepared
Innovation
37.92
36th percentileGlobal avg. 48.64
Severely underprepared
Governance
33.83
32nd percentileGlobal avg. 47.24
Critically unprepared
Access & Parity
19.91
23rd percentileGlobal avg. 60.85

Country profile

Gabon faces substantial readiness constraints across core dimensions. Its weakest results are in Human Capital (54, 27th percentile), GEFRI Composite (43, 28th percentile) and School Access and Gender Parity (20, 23rd percentile). These gaps continue to weigh on overall readiness.

Uneven scores across dimensions show where readiness conditions are less aligned. Literacy or tertiary enrollment gaps thin the talent pipeline and limit the country’s capacity to develop future-ready skills.

Sparse R&D investment and a small research workforce slow experimentation and delay new ideas from reaching learners. Policy execution and regulatory capacity remain weak, leaving reforms fragmented and hard to sustain. Girls outperform boys in secondary pathways, adding pressure to address male dropout risks.

Infrastructure presents a near-term leapfrog opportunity: performance is just below the global average, backed by enough observed data to support forward planning.

Some indicators are imputed, so the profile should be read with moderate caution.

Key insights

Falls below many peers at the 28th percentile.

Places 129th worldwide.

Holds a regional position of 11th within Sub-Saharan Africa.

Scores range from Infrastructure (70.2) to Access & Parity (19.9), reflecting variation across dimensions.

Leads regional peers most clearly in Infrastructure.

Regional peers: Sub-Saharan Africa

Composite GEFRI Score

Global rankRegional rankCountryScore
601Mauritius69.61
632South Africa69.19
——SeychellesMicrostate64.29
853Botswana63.09
974Namibia59.08
1005Ghana58.30
1156Cabo Verde49.23
1167Eswatini49.00
1238Rwanda44.68
1279Kenya43.15
12810Senegal43.13
12911Gabon43.09
13012Gambia, The42.98
13213Cote d'Ivoire41.42
13414Equatorial Guinea41.18
13815Zambia38.41
13916Lesotho38.37
——Sao Tome and PrincipeFCSMicrostate37.61
14117Togo37.45
14418Benin36.70
14519Zimbabwe36.55
14720Tanzania35.50
14821CameroonFCS35.19
14922Mauritania34.31
15023ComorosFCS34.12
15124Sierra Leone33.64
15225Congo, Rep.FCS32.41
15326Angola32.38
15427Burkina FasoFCS32.36
15528Uganda32.33
15729NigeriaFCS31.96
15830MalawiFCS30.65
15931MozambiqueFCS30.61
16032EthiopiaFCS30.53
16133Madagascar29.66
16234MaliFCS29.64
16435Guinea28.53
16636Guinea-BissauFCS27.88
16837Liberia25.30
16938Congo, Dem. Rep.FCS24.51
17039NigerFCS24.18
17140Burundi24.14
17241SudanFCS22.72
17342EritreaFCS20.93
17443ChadFCS20.88
17544SomaliaFCS20.58
17645Central African RepublicFCS20.48
17746South SudanFCS18.93