country profile

Zimbabwe

Sub-Saharan AfricaLower middle income16.95M population

Last updated August 26, 2026

Severely underprepared

Composite GEFRI Score

Severe readiness constraints across dimensions

Zimbabwe shows severely limited readiness to meet the challenges and opportunities of education in a rapidly changing world (19th percentile worldwide). Key structural conditions limit capacity to plan, implement, and sustain forward-looking reforms.

36.55Composite score

Global percentile: 19th
Global rank: #145
Regional rank: #19
Viewing data for

Emerging readiness

Infrastructure

49.55

21st percentileGlobal avg. 70.44

Severely underprepared

Human Capital

35.90

7th percentileGlobal avg. 66.18

Severely underprepared

Innovation

33.39

26th percentileGlobal avg. 48.64

Critically unprepared

Governance

23.25

13th percentileGlobal avg. 47.07

Severely underprepared

Access & Parity

40.67

38th percentileGlobal avg. 60.85

Country profile

Zimbabwe faces substantial readiness constraints across core dimensions. Its weakest results are in Infrastructure (50, 21st percentile), GEFRI Composite (37, 19th percentile), Human Capital (36, 7th percentile), Innovation (33, 26th percentile) and Governance (23, 13th percentile). These gaps continue to weigh on overall readiness.

Uneven scores across dimensions show where readiness conditions are less aligned. Limited electricity or internet coverage still constrains classrooms, preventing large-scale digital instruction. 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.

Regionally, Zimbabwe leads most clearly in School Access and Gender Parity, sitting well above the peer average.

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

Key insights

Falls below many peers at the 19th percentile.

Places 145th worldwide.

Holds a regional position of 19th within Sub-Saharan Africa.

Scores range from Infrastructure (49.5) to Governance (23.3), reflecting variation across dimensions.

Leads regional peers most clearly in Access & Parity.

Regional peers: Sub-Saharan Africa

Composite GEFRI Score

Global rank	Regional rank	Country	Score
61	1	Mauritius	69.13
67	2	South Africa	68.78
—	—	SeychellesMicrostate	64.14
86	3	Botswana	63.01
97	4	Namibia	59.03
100	5	Ghana	58.00
115	6	Eswatini	49.17
116	7	Cabo Verde	49.06
123	8	Rwanda	44.81
127	9	Gambia, The	43.01
128	10	Kenya	42.93
129	11	Senegal	42.87
130	12	Gabon	42.59
132	13	Equatorial Guinea	41.26
133	14	Cote d'Ivoire	41.19
139	15	Zambia	38.11
140	16	Lesotho	37.98
—	—	Sao Tome and PrincipeFCSMicrostate	37.69
141	17	Togo	37.61
144	18	Benin	36.56
145	19	Zimbabwe	36.55
146	20	Tanzania	35.55
147	21	CameroonFCS	35.16
149	22	Mauritania	34.17
150	23	Sierra Leone	33.62
151	24	ComorosFCS	33.36
152	25	Burkina FasoFCS	32.56
153	26	Congo, Rep.FCS	32.39
154	27	Uganda	32.27
155	28	Angola	32.18
157	29	NigeriaFCS	31.67
158	30	MozambiqueFCS	30.55
159	31	MalawiFCS	30.35
160	32	EthiopiaFCS	30.26
161	33	MaliFCS	29.69
162	34	Madagascar	29.63
164	35	Guinea	28.36
165	36	Guinea-BissauFCS	28.36
168	37	Liberia	24.94
169	38	NigerFCS	24.54
170	39	Burundi	24.53
171	40	Congo, Dem. Rep.FCS	24.39
172	41	SudanFCS	23.03
173	42	EritreaFCS	21.02
174	43	ChadFCS	20.62
175	44	Central African RepublicFCS	20.44
176	45	SomaliaFCS	20.32
177	46	South SudanFCS	18.91