country profile

Guatemala

Latin America & CaribbeanUpper middle income18.69M population

Last updated July 15, 2026

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Severely underprepared

Composite GEFRI Score

Severe readiness constraints across dimensions

Guatemala shows severely limited readiness to meet the challenges and opportunities of education in a rapidly changing world (22nd percentile worldwide). Key structural conditions limit capacity to plan, implement, and sustain forward-looking reforms.

30.91Composite score
Global percentile
22nd
Global rank
#139
Regional rank
#25
Viewing data for
Emerging readiness
Infrastructure
49.80
31st percentileGlobal avg. 55.13
Severely underprepared
Human Capital
35.27
23rd percentileGlobal avg. 47.36
Critically unprepared
Innovation
23.85
5th percentileGlobal avg. 46.19
Severely underprepared
Governance
35.62
33rd percentileGlobal avg. 47.46
Critically unprepared
Access & Parity
10.00
33rd percentileGlobal avg. 48.49

Country profile

Guatemala faces substantial readiness constraints across core dimensions. Its weakest results are in Human Capital (35, 23rd percentile), GEFRI Composite (31, 22nd percentile) and Innovation (24, 5th 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. Gender parity across secondary pathways reflects sustained commitment to equitable participation.

Infrastructure presents a near-term leapfrog opportunity: performance is just below the global average, backed by enough observed data to support forward planning. Regionally, School Access and Gender Parity lags peers the most, signalling where investment could have the highest impact.

Key insights

Falls below many peers at the 22nd percentile.

Places 139th worldwide.

Holds a regional position of 25th within Latin America & Caribbean.

Scores range from Infrastructure (49.8) to Access & Parity (10.0), reflecting variation across dimensions.

Trails regional peers most clearly in Access & Parity.

Regional peers: Latin America & Caribbean

Composite GEFRI Score

Global rankRegional rankCountryScore
341Chile69.65
402Argentina63.92
453Uruguay61.82
Cayman IslandsMicrostate59.77
St. Kitts and NevisMicrostate57.14
664Peru57.02
725Colombia56.38
Antigua and BarbudaMicrostate55.23
766Mexico55.12
Turks and Caicos IslandsMicrostate54.70
787Trinidad and Tobago54.30
GrenadaMicrostate53.80
818Brazil53.69
839Cuba53.32
8410Puerto Rico52.82
BarbadosMicrostate51.64
DominicaMicrostate51.41
8911Dominican Republic51.27
9012Ecuador51.12
St. Vincent and the GrenadinesMicrostate50.32
St. LuciaMicrostate50.05
9313Bolivia49.80
9714Costa Rica49.04
ArubaMicrostate48.09
Virgin Islands (U.S.)Microstate47.85
10015Jamaica47.54
St. Martin (French part)Microstate47.43
10116Panama47.30
10217Belize46.83
Sint Maarten (Dutch part)Microstate46.32
10518Venezuela, RB45.33
10619Bahamas, The45.13
British Virgin IslandsMicrostate44.78
10720Paraguay44.77
CuracaoMicrostate44.47
11921Suriname36.89
12122Guyana36.38
12423El Salvador35.82
13224Honduras32.99
13925Guatemala30.91
14126Nicaragua29.44
15927HaitiFCS24.28