Key points from the chart
- The chart compares women’s and men’s gross tertiary enrolment rates in 33 countries, 18 of them in Latin America and the Caribbean.
- Women’s rate is higher than men’s in 30 of the 33 countries. The exceptions are Japan, Nigeria and Pakistan.
- Argentina tops the chart, with a women’s rate of about 140%, the highest dot on the chart.
- Pakistan and Nigeria are at the bottom, both close to 10%.
- Rates above 100% are possible because the gross ratio counts students of any age.
All figures are from the graphic, which cites the World Bank. The chart prints no values; percentages above are read from the axis.
University enrollment rate by country, women and men
Title: Women are attending college more in almost all countries. Legend: “School enrollment, tertiary (% gross)”, pink dots for female and blue dots for male. The horizontal axis runs from 20% to 160%. Latin American and Caribbean countries carry a small flag. Countries are sorted by the women’s rate, highest first.
The chart does not print a value for each dot, so the table gives the chart’s order and which dot is higher, alongside the latest World Bank figures we retrieved for each country (2012 onwards). These are newer than the chart and can differ from it.
| Rank on chart | Country | Higher rate on the chart | World Bank latest, women | World Bank latest, men | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Argentina (flag) | Women | 140.2% | 76.9% | 2023 |
| 2 | Puerto Rico (flag) | Women | 95.9% | 60.6% | 2023 |
| 3 | Chile (flag) | Women | 119.4% | 101.2% | 2024 |
| 4 | Spain | Women | 106.5% | 81.8% | 2024 |
| 5 | Uruguay (flag) | Women | 101.6% | 59.2% | 2023 |
| 6 | UK | Women | 93.5% | 67.9% | 2023 |
| 7 | USA | Women | 94.9% | 64.5% | 2022 |
| 8 | Canada | Women | 88.6% | 64.8% | 2023 |
| 9 | France | Women | 82.0% | 61.6% | 2024 |
| 10 | Dom. Rep. (flag) | Women | 76.6% | 38.9% | 2024 |
| 11 | Germany | Women | 80.9% | 72.8% | 2024 |
| 12 | China | Women | 83.1% | 71.6% | 2024 |
| 13 | Peru (flag) | Women | 74.0% | 68.4% | 2017 |
| 14 | Brazil (flag) | Women | 85.3% | 55.0% | 2024 |
| 15 | Cuba (flag) | Women | 57.6% | 29.2% | 2024 |
| 16 | Panama (flag) | Women | 66.3% | 41.6% | 2023 |
| 17 | Colombia (flag) | Women | 64.3% | 54.4% | 2022 |
| 18 | Ecuador (flag) | Women | 76.1% | 60.0% | 2023 |
| 19 | Japan | Men | 63.6% | 65.3% | 2023 |
| 20 | Costa Rica (flag) | Women | 60.5% | 49.8% | 2019 |
| 21 | Russia | Women | 62.7% | 58.2% | 2024 |
| 22 | Mexico (flag) | Women | 52.4% | 44.0% | 2024 |
| 23 | Indonesia | Women | 49.9% | 40.1% | 2023 |
| 24 | Paraguay (flag) | Women | no figure since 2012 | ||
| 25 | Egypt | Women | 38.6% | 37.5% | 2025 |
| 26 | El Salvador (flag) | Women | 37.9% | 28.0% | 2024 |
| 27 | India | Women | 35.7% | 33.3% | 2025 |
| 28 | South Africa | Women | 29.8% | 17.3% | 2023 |
| 29 | Honduras (flag) | Women | 28.1% | 18.8% | 2024 |
| 30 | Nicaragua (flag) | Women | 35.7% | 25.2% | 2023 |
| 31 | Guatemala (flag) | Women | 30.5% | 24.1% | 2023 |
| 32 | Nigeria | Men | no figure since 2012 | ||
| 33 | Pakistan | Men | 11.0% | 10.7% | 2024 |
Note on the chart: “Why are some numbers above 100%? The gross enrollment ratio includes all students, regardless of age, in tertiary education. Numbers over 100% occur when overage students (late entry or grade repetition) or underage students (early enrollment) are counted alongside the official age group.” Footer: “Source: World Bank” and the Latinometrics logo.
Women and university in Latin America
Latinometrics published the chart in a September 2024 article on tertiary education. It says more than half of all Latin Americans have now enrolled in some form of tertiary education, against fewer than one in ten fifty years ago, and that 6 out of 10 women in the region enrol, compared with fewer than half of men [1].
An earlier Latinometrics piece adds that women’s college attendance in Latin America has grown more than 14 times since 1970. It says women overtook men in tertiary education across the region in 1993, a year after the European Union and well before the world as a whole in 2001. Panama was first, in 1973, followed by Uruguay in 1979, Argentina in 1989 and Mexico in 2016 [2].
Latest World Bank figures
In the World Bank’s latest data, women’s gross tertiary enrolment is still higher than men’s in every listed country except Japan, where it is 63.6% for women and 65.3% for men (2023) [4]. Pakistan has now tipped the other way from the chart: 11.0% for women and 10.7% for men in 2024 [4]. The World Bank series comes from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics [3].
Notes on this infographic
- Data year not stated. The chart does not say which year it shows. Some values differ from the latest World Bank figures; Puerto Rico’s women’s rate, for example, appears near 118% on the chart against 95.9% for 2023 [4].
- Gross, not net. A gross rate is total tertiary students divided by the population of the official university age group, so it is not the share of young people at university.
- Missing data. The World Bank API returned no figure since 2012 for Paraguay or Nigeria [4].
- Spelling. The chart uses US spelling (“enrollment”); this page uses enrolment in the text.
Questions about university enrolment by country
What percentage of women go to college?
It varies widely by country. In Latin America, Latinometrics says 6 out of 10 women enrol in tertiary education [1]; on the World Bank’s latest data the rate ranges from 11.0% in Pakistan to 140.2% in Argentina among the countries on this chart [4].
Which country has the highest university enrolment rate for women?
Argentina tops the chart, with a women's gross tertiary enrolment rate of about 140%. The World Bank's latest figures for Argentina are 140.2% for women and 76.9% for men in 2023 [4]. Rates above 100% are possible because the gross ratio counts students of any age, including late entrants and those repeating a year, against the population of the official university age group.
Do more women than men go to university around the world?
In 30 of the 33 countries on the chart, women's tertiary enrolment rate is higher than men's. The exceptions are Japan, Nigeria and Pakistan. In the World Bank's latest data, Japan still has fewer women than men enrolled, 63.6% against 65.3% in 2023, while Pakistan has tipped the other way, with 11.0% for women and 10.7% for men in 2024 [4].
When did women overtake men in higher education in Latin America?
Women overtook men in tertiary education across Latin America in 1993, according to Latinometrics, a year after the European Union and well before the world as a whole in 2001 [2]. Panama was the first country to do so, in 1973, followed by Uruguay in 1979, Argentina in 1989 and Mexico in 2016 [2]. Today 6 out of 10 women in the region enrol, compared with fewer than half of men [1].
Sources
- Latinometrics, LatAm college enrollment dips after 29 years of growth, 17 September 2024, the article this chart appears in.
- Latinometrics, In LatAm. Women are Now More Educated Than Men.
- World Bank, School enrollment, tertiary, female (% gross).
- World Bank, Indicators API, series SE.TER.ENRR.FE (female) and SE.TER.ENRR.MA (male), latest value from 2012 onwards for each country, retrieved 29 October 2026.
Last reviewed 29 October 2026
