Guatemala
Last updated August 4, 2026
Composite GEFRI Score
Limited relative strength in Infrastructure, with deep gaps in Access & Parity
Guatemala shows severely limited readiness to meet the challenges and opportunities of education in a rapidly changing world (24th percentile worldwide). Key structural conditions limit capacity to plan, implement, and sustain forward-looking reforms.
- Global percentile
- 24th
- Global rank
- #136
- Regional rank
- #25
- Viewing data for
Country profile
Guatemala faces substantial readiness constraints across core dimensions. Its weakest results are in Human Capital (55, 29th percentile), GEFRI Composite (39, 24th percentile), Innovation (23, 4th percentile) and School Access and Gender Parity (18, 21st 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 24th percentile.
Places 136th worldwide.
Holds a regional position of 25th within Latin America & Caribbean.
Scores range from Infrastructure (65.2) to Access & Parity (17.9), reflecting variation across dimensions.
Trails regional peers most clearly in Access & Parity.
Regional peers: Latin America & Caribbean
Composite GEFRI Score