Zambia
Sub-Saharan Africa · Lower middle income· 21.31M inhabitants
Last updated: November 1, 2025
Futures readiness profile
Key insights: Zambia
Zambia lags behind global peers in Human Capital (35, 24th percentile), Infrastructure (33, 16th percentile), Innovation (32, 29th percentile), and School Access and Gender Parity (10, 28th percentile). The remaining dimension is closer to the global average, but does not demonstrate global leadership or advanced futures readiness. Broad-based, high-impact interventions are needed to drive overall education futures readiness and resilience.
Composite GEFRI Score
29.98
21st percentile
Higher scores indicate greater education futures readiness
Component scores
School Access and Gender Parity10.00
Below global avg. · 28th %-tile
Infrastructure32.54
Below global avg. · 16th %-tile
Measures the availability and quality of basic digital and electrical infrastructure that supports education.
Governance40.47
Near the global average · 40th %-tile
Captures the effectiveness and quality of policies, regulations, and governance that shape the educational environment.
Human Capital34.81
Below global avg. · 24th %-tile
Assesses the educational attainment and capacity of a country’s population, focusing on access and completion at secondary and tertiary levels as well as literacy.
Innovation32.08
Below global avg. · 29th %-tile
Reflects a country’s capacity to foster, produce, and apply new knowledge and technology in society and education.
Regional peers: Sub-Saharan Africa
| Global rank | Regional rank | Country | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 67 | 1 | South Africa | 57.46 |
| 69 | 2 | Mauritius | 57.15 |
| — | — | Seychelles(microstate) | 56.38 |
| 75 | 3 | Botswana | 55.79 |
| 112 | 4 | Namibia | 44.52 |
| 116 | 5 | Equatorial Guinea | 40.82 |
| 117 | 6 | Ghana | 40.79 |
| 120 | 7 | Cabo Verde | 39.65 |
| 124 | 8 | Eswatini | 37.11 |
| 127 | 9 | Gabon | 35.25 |
| 130 | 10 | Kenya | 33.75 |
| 132 | 11 | Senegal | 32.90 |
| 133 | 12 | Rwanda | 32.79 |
| 135 | 13 | Cote d'Ivoire | 31.31 |
| 138 | 14 | Lesotho | 30.80 |
| — | — | Sao Tome and Principe(microstate) | 30.79 |
| 140 | 15 | Gambia, The | 30.16 |
| 141 | 16 | Zambia | 29.98 |
| 143 | 17 | Zimbabwe | 28.03 |
| 145 | 18 | Tanzania | 27.71 |
| 146 | 19 | Benin | 27.46 |
| 148 | 20 | Togo | 27.30 |
| 149 | 21 | Angola | 27.12 |
| 150 | 22 | Cameroon | 26.66 |
| 151 | 23 | Sierra Leone | 25.51 |
| 152 | 24 | Nigeria | 25.34 |
| 154 | 25 | Mauritania | 24.95 |
| 155 | 26 | Congo, Rep. | 24.86 |
| 156 | 27 | Comoros | 24.58 |
| 158 | 28 | Mozambique | 23.72 |
| 159 | 29 | Uganda | 23.62 |
| 160 | 30 | Ethiopia | 23.20 |
| 161 | 31 | Guinea-Bissau | 23.13 |
| 162 | 32 | Guinea | 22.69 |
| 163 | 33 | Madagascar | 22.51 |
| 164 | 34 | Malawi | 22.41 |
| 165 | 35 | Burkina Faso | 22.16 |
| 166 | 36 | Mali | 21.92 |
| 167 | 37 | Liberia | 19.95 |
| 168 | 38 | Congo, Dem. Rep. | 19.22 |
| 169 | 39 | Niger | 18.89 |
| 170 | 40 | Sudan | 18.72 |
| 172 | 41 | Burundi | 17.51 |
| 173 | 42 | Eritrea | 17.07 |
| 174 | 43 | South Sudan | 15.84 |
| 175 | 44 | Somalia, Fed. Rep. | 15.50 |
| 176 | 45 | Chad | 13.99 |
| 177 | 46 | Central African Republic | 13.93 |