country profile

Eswatini

Sub-Saharan AfricaLower middle income1.26M population

Last updated July 15, 2026

Severely underprepared

Composite GEFRI Score

Severe readiness constraints across dimensions

Eswatini shows severely limited readiness to meet the challenges and opportunities of education in a rapidly changing world (33rd percentile worldwide). Key structural conditions limit capacity to plan, implement, and sustain forward-looking reforms.

36.39Composite score

Global percentile: 33rd
Global rank: #120
Regional rank: #7
Viewing data for

Emerging readiness

Infrastructure

51.51

33rd percentileGlobal avg. 55.13

Severely underprepared

Human Capital

41.17

30th percentileGlobal avg. 47.36

Severely underprepared

Innovation

35.32

24th percentileGlobal avg. 46.19

Severely underprepared

Governance

30.35

21st percentileGlobal avg. 47.46

Critically unprepared

Access & Parity

23.58

36th percentileGlobal avg. 48.49

Country profile

Eswatini faces substantial readiness constraints across core dimensions. Its weakest results are in Innovation (35, 24th percentile) and Governance (30, 21st percentile). These gaps continue to weigh on overall readiness.

Uneven scores across dimensions show where readiness conditions are less aligned. Limited tertiary enrollment narrows future talent pipelines and innovation capacity.

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.

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

Key insights

Falls below many peers at the 33rd percentile.

Places 120th worldwide.

Holds a regional position of 7th within Sub-Saharan Africa.

Scores range from Infrastructure (51.5) to Access & Parity (23.6), reflecting variation across dimensions.

Leads regional peers most clearly in Infrastructure.

Regional peers: Sub-Saharan Africa

Composite GEFRI Score

Global rank	Regional rank	Country	Score
65	1	South Africa	57.44
74	2	Mauritius	55.85
—	—	SeychellesMicrostate	55.06
80	3	Botswana	53.75
99	4	Ghana	48.08
108	5	Namibia	44.23
114	6	Cabo Verde	39.44
120	7	Eswatini	36.39
125	8	Equatorial Guinea	35.21
126	9	Senegal	34.71
127	10	Gabon	34.67
128	11	Rwanda	34.54
133	12	Kenya	32.83
135	13	Gambia, The	32.46
136	14	Cote d'Ivoire	32.04
137	15	Lesotho	31.46
140	16	Tanzania	29.45
142	17	Benin	29.31
—	—	Sao Tome and PrincipeFCSMicrostate	29.18
143	18	Togo	28.93
144	19	Zimbabwe	28.61
145	20	CameroonFCS	28.42
146	21	Mauritania	27.91
148	22	Zambia	27.69
150	23	Angola	27.20
153	24	Guinea	25.53
154	25	MozambiqueFCS	25.03
155	26	Madagascar	24.90
156	27	Uganda	24.77
157	28	Congo, Rep.FCS	24.76
158	29	NigeriaFCS	24.43
160	30	EthiopiaFCS	24.27
161	31	Burkina FasoFCS	24.20
162	32	ComorosFCS	24.06
163	33	Sierra Leone	23.91
164	34	MalawiFCS	23.31
165	35	Liberia	22.51
166	36	Guinea-BissauFCS	22.30
167	37	MaliFCS	21.77
168	38	Burundi	20.39
169	39	SudanFCS	19.96
170	40	NigerFCS	19.49
171	41	EritreaFCS	19.24
172	42	Congo, Dem. Rep.FCS	19.13
173	43	ChadFCS	17.06
175	44	SomaliaFCS	16.33
176	45	South SudanFCS	16.19
177	46	Central African RepublicFCS	16.10