country profile

Gabon

Sub-Saharan AfricaUpper middle income2.59M population

Last updated July 15, 2026

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Severely underprepared

Composite GEFRI Score

Severe readiness constraints across dimensions

Gabon shows severely limited readiness to meet the challenges and opportunities of education in a rapidly changing world (29th percentile worldwide). Key structural conditions limit capacity to plan, implement, and sustain forward-looking reforms.

34.67Composite score
Global percentile
29th
Global rank
#127
Regional rank
#10
Viewing data for
Emerging readiness
Infrastructure
53.24
36th percentileGlobal avg. 55.13
Severely underprepared
Human Capital
39.86
28th percentileGlobal avg. 47.36
Severely underprepared
Innovation
43.13
48th percentileGlobal avg. 46.19
Severely underprepared
Governance
32.10
26th percentileGlobal avg. 47.46
Critically unprepared
Access & Parity
5.00
19th percentileGlobal avg. 48.49

Country profile

Gabon faces substantial readiness constraints across core dimensions. Its weakest results are in Human Capital (40, 28th percentile), GEFRI Composite (35, 29th percentile), Governance (32, 26th percentile) and School Access and Gender Parity (5, 19th 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 and Human Capital present 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 29th percentile.

Places 127th worldwide.

Holds a regional position of 10th within Sub-Saharan Africa.

Scores range from Infrastructure (53.2) to Access & Parity (5.0), reflecting variation across dimensions.

Leads regional peers most clearly in Infrastructure.

Regional peers: Sub-Saharan Africa

Composite GEFRI Score

Global rankRegional rankCountryScore
651South Africa57.44
742Mauritius55.85
SeychellesMicrostate55.06
803Botswana53.75
994Ghana48.08
1085Namibia44.23
1146Cabo Verde39.44
1207Eswatini36.39
1258Equatorial Guinea35.21
1269Senegal34.71
12710Gabon34.67
12811Rwanda34.54
13312Kenya32.83
13513Gambia, The32.46
13614Cote d'Ivoire32.04
13715Lesotho31.46
14016Tanzania29.45
14217Benin29.31
Sao Tome and PrincipeFCSMicrostate29.18
14318Togo28.93
14419Zimbabwe28.61
14520CameroonFCS28.42
14621Mauritania27.91
14822Zambia27.69
15023Angola27.20
15324Guinea25.53
15425MozambiqueFCS25.03
15526Madagascar24.90
15627Uganda24.77
15728Congo, Rep.FCS24.76
15829NigeriaFCS24.43
16030EthiopiaFCS24.27
16131Burkina FasoFCS24.20
16232ComorosFCS24.06
16333Sierra Leone23.91
16434MalawiFCS23.31
16535Liberia22.51
16636Guinea-BissauFCS22.30
16737MaliFCS21.77
16838Burundi20.39
16939SudanFCS19.96
17040NigerFCS19.49
17141EritreaFCS19.24
17242Congo, Dem. Rep.FCS19.13
17343ChadFCS17.06
17544SomaliaFCS16.33
17645South SudanFCS16.19
17746Central African RepublicFCS16.10