Brazil
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Brazil
Overview of the education system (EAG 2026)
| Education at a Glance 2026 (EAG 2026): OECD Indicators | Country note | Annexes from Education at a Glance 2026 | OECD Handbook for Internationally Comparative Education Statistics 2018 | OECD Education Policy Outlook: Brazil | Ministério da Educação (Ministry of Education, in Portuguese ) | Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Educacionais (National Institute for Educational Research, in Portuguese) |
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Participation in education
The proportion of upper secondary students enrolled in vocational programmes is one of the smallest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (16.8 %, rank 39/41 , 2024) Download Indicator
Brazil has one of the smallest shares of lower secondary students enrolled in vocational programmes. (0.3 %, rank 19/20 , 2024) Download Indicator
Graduation
The percentage of first-time graduates in vocational programmes at upper secondary level is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (15.5 %, rank 30/34 , 2024) Download Indicator
Graduation by gender
The share of female graduates from upper secondary vocational programmes is one of the largest among OECD countries and partner economies with available data. (56.3 %, rank 3/40 , 2024) Download Indicator
Graduation by field of education and gender
In Brazil, the share of female graduates in tertiary education in the fields of arts and humanities is one of the smallest among OECD countries and partner economies with available data. (57.1 %, rank 33/34 , 2024) Download Indicator
Completion rates
A relatively low share of students in upper secondary vocational programmes complete their studies within the theoretical programme duration. (4.3 %, rank 25/26 , 2022) Download Indicator
A relatively low share of upper secondary students complete their studies up to two years later than the theoretical programme duration. (79.5 %, rank 22/24 , 2024) Download Indicator
A relatively low share of students in upper secondary vocational programmes complete their studies up to two years later than the theoretical programme duration. (4.9 %, rank 23/24 , 2024) Download Indicator
A relatively high share of students in upper secondary general programmes complete their studies up to two years later than the theoretical programme duration. (74.6 %, rank 4/24 , 2024) Download Indicator
Student mobility
Brazil has one of the smallest proportion of international or foreign students enrolled in tertiary education among OECD and partner countries with available data. (0.3 %, rank 41/42 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the share of international and foreign students enrolled in doctoral or equivalent programmes is one of the smallest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (2.2 %, rank 39/41 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the proportion of international or foreign students enrolled in bachelor's programmes is one of the smallest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (0.2 %, rank 42/42 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the proportion of international or foreign students enrolled in master's programmes is one of the smallest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (1 %, rank 39/42 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the share of international or foreign students enrolled in bachelor's programmes among men is relatively low compared to other OECD and partner countries. (0.3 %, rank 40/41 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the share of international or foreign students enrolled in bachelor's programmes among women is relatively low compared to other OECD and partner countries. (0.2 %, rank 41/41 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the share of international or foreign students enrolled in doctoral or equivalent programmes among men is relatively low compared to other OECD and partner countries. (3.2 %, rank 38/40 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the share of international or foreign students enrolled in doctoral or equivalent programmes among women is relatively low compared to other OECD and partner countries. (1.5 %, rank 39/40 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the share of international or foreign students enrolled in master's programmes among men is relatively low compared to other OECD and partner countries. (1.4 %, rank 38/41 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the share of international or foreign students enrolled in master's programmes among women is relatively low compared to other OECD and partner countries. (0.7 %, rank 39/41 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the share of international or foreign students enrolled in tertiary education among men is relatively low compared to other OECD and partner countries. (0.3 %, rank 40/41 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the share of international or foreign students enrolled in tertiary education among women is relatively low compared to other OECD and partner countries. (0.2 %, rank 41/41 , 2024) Download Indicator
Student mobility by field of education
In Brazil, the share of international and foreign students among all students in the field of education is one of the smallest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (0.2 %, rank 37/39 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the share of international and foreign students among all students in the field of arts and humanities is one of the smallest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (0.7 %, rank 37/39 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the share of international and foreign students among all students in the field of social sciences, journalism and information is one of the smallest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (0.4 %, rank 38/39 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the share of international and foreign students among all students in the field of business, administration and law is one of the smallest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (0.2 %, rank 38/38 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the share of international and foreign students among all students in the field of Natural sciences, mathematics and statistics is one of the smallest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (0.8 %, rank 37/39 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the share of international and foreign students among all students in the field of information and communication technologies is one of the smallest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (0.3 %, rank 38/38 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the share of international and foreign students among all students in the field of engineering, manufacturing and construction is one of the smallest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (0.5 %, rank 38/39 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the share of international and foreign students among all students in the field of health and welfare is one of the smallest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (0.2 %, rank 39/39 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the share of international and foreign students among all students in the field of services is one of the smallest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (0.3 %, rank 35/38 , 2024) Download Indicator
Expenditure per student
Expenditure per student for core educational services on primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education in Brazil is comparatively low. (4294 USD Equivalent, rank 38/39 , 2023) Download Indicator
Expenditure per student for core educational services on primary to tertiary education in Brazil is comparatively low. (4062 USD Equivalent, rank 38/39 , 2023) Download Indicator
Expenditure per student on research and development for primary to tertiary education in Brazil is comparatively low. (70 USD Equivalent, rank 34/35 , 2023) Download Indicator
Nature of expenditure
In Brazil, the share of capital expenditure on all levels below tertiary education is one of the smallest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (4.7 %, rank 31/35 , 2023) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the share of capital expenditure on primary through tertiary is one of the smallest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (4.5 %, rank 32/35 , 2023) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the share of current expenditure on primary through tertiary education is one of the largest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (95.5 %, rank 5/36 , 2023) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the share of capital expenditure on tertiary education is one of the smallest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (3.5 %, rank 33/37 , 2023) Download Indicator
Who the teachers are
In Brazil, the share of women among teaching staff in vocational upper secondary education is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (49.1 %, rank 30/32 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the share of short-cycle tertiary teachers younger than 30 is relatively low, compared to other countries with data available. (0.9 %, rank 23/25 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the share of short-cycle tertiary female teachers younger than 30 is relatively low, compared to other countries with data available. (0 %, rank 23/23 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the share of upper secondary vocational education teachers aged 50 or more is relatively low, compared to the other countries with available data. (24.7 %, rank 30/32 , 2024) Download Indicator
The share of teachers aged 50 or more in post secondary non-tertiary education is relatively low in Brazil, compared to the other countries with available data. (24 %, rank 21/22 , 2024) Download Indicator
Teacher shortages
In Brazil, the share of fully qualified primary and secondary teachers who left the profession is relatively high compared to other participating countries. (10.3 %, rank 4/24 , 2025) Download Indicator
Ratio of student to teaching staff
The number of students per teacher in primary schools is one of the highest among OECD countries and partner countries with available data. (21.7 Ratio, rank 4/43 , 2024) Download Indicator
The ratio of students to teaching staff at the lower secondary level is especially high. (20.6 Ratio, rank 4/39 , 2024) Download Indicator
The ratio of students to teaching staff at the upper secondary level is especially high. (21.6 Ratio, rank 4/42 , 2024) Download Indicator
The ratio of students to teaching staff in short-cycle tertiary programmes is comparatively low in Brazil. (3.7 Ratio, rank 20/20 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the number of students per teacher in public institutions short-cycle tertiary education is one of the lowest among countries with available data. (2.4 Ratio, rank 20/20 , 2024) Download Indicator
Earnings and educational attainment
The proportional difference in earnings between 25-64 year-old adults with tertiary education and those with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education is quite substantial. (238 Index, rank 2/29 , 2024) Download Indicator
Compared to other countries with available data, earnings of 25-64 year-olds full- and part-time with below secondary education compared to those of adults with an upper secondary education are relatively low in Brazil. (70.4 %, rank 27/30 , 2024) Download Indicator
Compared to other countries with available data, earnings of 25-64 year-olds with below secondary education compared to those of adults with an upper secondary education are relatively low in Brazil. (75.7 %, rank 25/29 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the relative earnings for 45-54 year-old workers with below upper secondary attainment are low compared to workers with upper secondary attainment (72 Index, rank 28/29 , 2024) Download Indicator
Among workers with below upper secondary education in Brazil, the proportion earning between 1 and 1.5 times the median is comparatively low . (10 Index, rank 29/29 , 2024) Download Indicator
Among workers with below upper secondary education in Brazil, the proportion earning between 0.5 and 1 times the median is comparatively low. (25 Index, rank 29/30 , 2024) Download Indicator
Among workers with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education in Brazil, the proportion earning between 1 and 1.5 times the median is comparatively low. (18 Index, rank 30/30 , 2024) Download Indicator
Among workers with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education in Brazil, the proportion earning between 0.5 and 1 times the median is comparatively low. (29 Index, rank 29/30 , 2024) Download Indicator
Among workers with tertiary education in Brazil, the proportion earning between 1.5 and 2 times the median is comparatively low. (11 Index, rank 30/30 , 2024) Download Indicator
Among workers with tertiary education in Brazil, the proportion earning between 1 and 1.5 times the median is comparatively low. (14 Index, rank 30/30 , 2024) Download Indicator
Among workers with tertiary education in Brazil, the proportion earning between 0.5 and 1 times the median is comparatively low. (12 Index, rank 29/30 , 2024) Download Indicator
Earnings, gender and educational attainment
The earnings of men without an upper secondary education are relatively low compared to those of men with an upper secondary education. (72 Index, rank 26/29 , 2024) Download Indicator
Earnings of women as a percentage of men's earnings (among 25-64 year-olds with upper secondary education or post-secondary non-tertiary education and income from employment) are one of the lowest among countries with available data. (70.8 %, rank 27/28 , 2024) Download Indicator
Earnings of women as a percentage of men's earnings (among 25-64 year-olds with tertiary education and income from employment) are one of the lowest among countries with available data. (67.8 %, rank 29/29 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, women's earnings as a percentage of men's earnings among 25-64 year-olds with tertiary education (full- and part-time workers) are among the lowest across countries with available data. (65.1 %, rank 29/30 , 2024) Download Indicator
In Brazil, the proportion of young women's earnings as a percentage of men's earnings (25-34 year-olds with tertiary education working full-time full-year), is relatively low compared to OECD and other members with available data (73.1 %, rank 29/29 , 2024) Download Indicator
Earnings of women as a percentage of men's earnings (45-54 year-olds with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education working full-time full-year) are one of the lowest among countries with available data. (69.3 %, rank 28/29 , 2024) Download Indicator
Earnings of women as a percentage of men's earnings (45-54 year-olds with tertiary education working full-time full-year) are one of the lowest among countries with available data. (64.4 %, rank 29/29 , 2024) Download Indicator
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General findings
- Educational attainment remains at an all-time high in 2025 as more people obtain advanced qualifications. Across the OECD, 43% of working-age adults have a tertiary qualification, while the share of adults with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment is slightly lower at 39%.
- On a similar note, the share of young adults without upper secondary attainment continues to decline across the OECD, standing at 12% in 2025. Therefore, while more young adults obtain a tertiary qualification, the share of individuals whose highest qualification is upper secondary with a vocational orientation is decreasing in almost all OECD countries.
- Regarding the share of young people being neither in employment nor in education or training, it stood at 14% as of 2025 across OECD countries. However, cross-country comparisons reveal a wide variety of trends, ranging from large falls in Croatia or Ireland to increases in Germany or Latvia.
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- Most children aged 3 to 5 are enrolled in early childhood education, with an average participation rate of 86% across the OECD in 2024. Participation in early childhood education increases with age and tends to be higher in countries with stronger institutional support for participation.
- 76.2% of students complete upper secondary programmes within the theoretical programme duration. This rises to 84.9% with two additional years on average across the OECD.
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- In 2023, OECD countries allocated an average of 9.8% of total government expenditure to education, equivalent to 4.2% of GDP.
- Total expenditure on education tends to rise with the level of education. In primary education, expenditure per student was USD 13 552 in 2023 on average across the OECD. This amount rises to USD 14 923 in secondary education and to USD 22 402 in tertiary education.
- Tertiary education continues to expand, placing pressure on public budgets. Private sources represent a larger share of total funding at the tertiary level than at any other level of education. However, as a whole most investment in education comes from public sources. On average, across the OECD, government expenditure on primary to tertiary education corresponded to 4% of GDP in 2023, while private expenditure corresponded to 0.6%. Both of these figures are measured as initial source of funds, which implies that we are tracking the original provider.
- Research and development represents around one-third of total expenditure across the OECD on tertiary educational institutions, underlining their dual role in both teaching and research. On average across the OECD, in 2023, USD 8 060 were invested annually into research and development for every student enrolled in tertiary education.
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- Compulsory teaching time averages 770 hours per year for primary students and 710 hours for lower secondary students (general programmes), a difference of about 60 hours annually.
- The ratio of children to teachers in primary education has slightly fallen across most OECD countries, decreasing from an average of 15 children per teacher in 2015 to 14 in 2024.
- Teachers’ statutory salaries increase with the level of education taught. On average, across OECD countries and economies, the salaries of teachers with the most prevalent qualifications with 15 years of experience range from USD 60 437 at pre-primary level to USD 68 928 at upper secondary level.
- Teachers’ actual salaries at primary and general secondary levels of education are 87-95% of the average earnings of tertiary-educated workers across OECD countries. School heads' actual salaries are usually higher than those of tertiary-educated workers.
| Education policies: Teachers | Education policies: Learning environment | OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) |
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- On average across OECD countries, 9.1% of teachers in primary and secondary education are non-fully qualified, with shares exceeding 18% in Chile, Denmark, Estonia and Germany.
- Furthermore, the share of fully qualified teachers leaving the profession in primary and secondary schools stands at 6.4% of the total teaching workforce.
- The ratio of children to teachers in primary education has slightly fallen across most OECD countries, decreasing from an average of 15 children per teacher in 2015 to 14 in 2024.
- Regarding job satisfaction among teachers, participating countries show wide differences. Japan, Spain and Czechia reported that teachers tend to be much more satisfied with their jobs than other employed adults. On the other hand, teachers in Hungary, Chile or Latvia tend to be less satisfied with their jobs than other employed adults.
| Education policies: Teachers | Education policies: Teacher working conditions | Education policies: Teacher employment |
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Note: These values should be interpreted with care since they are influenced by countries' specific contexts and trade-offs. In education, there is often no simple
most- or least-efficient model. For instance, the share of private expenditure in education must be read against other measures designed to mitigate inequities,
such as loans and grants; longer learning time is an opportunity to convey more and better content to students, but may hinder investments in other important
areas. If you want further information on the nature of different variables, please take the time to read the analysis and contextual information, available at the website
for each publication.
All rankings for individual variables are compiled on the basis of OECD and G20 countries for which data are available. The OECD average includes only OECD countries which are listed here: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/members-partners.html
Reference years displayed in the Education GPS correspond to the most common year of reference among countries for which data is available on each variable. Data for the latest available year is preferred and some countries may have provided data refering to a more recent or late year. However, OECD averages from Education at a Glance coming from the OECD database are the averages for the indicator reference year appearing in the Education GPS and may differ from averages in the book where averages can include data from multiple reference years, based on countries' data availability.
To know more about possible exceptions on data please click on the "Download Indicator" link on each variable. When a year of reference corresponds to a school year encompassing two years, the reference reads as follows: 2026 for school year 2025/2026 in the Northern Hemisphere.
*TALIS averages are based on all countries participating in the TALIS survey, including partner countries and economies. This explains the difference between the OECD average and the TALIS averages. Data from the TALIS survey and Education at a Glance (EAG) may differ. See Annex E of the TALIS technical report and Sources Methodologies and Technical Notes of EAG 2025 for more details about the data collections.
For additional notes, please refer to annexes in the list of links below the introductory country profile text.
All rankings for individual variables are compiled on the basis of OECD and G20 countries for which data are available. The OECD average includes only OECD countries which are listed here: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/members-partners.html
Reference years displayed in the Education GPS correspond to the most common year of reference among countries for which data is available on each variable. Data for the latest available year is preferred and some countries may have provided data refering to a more recent or late year. However, OECD averages from Education at a Glance coming from the OECD database are the averages for the indicator reference year appearing in the Education GPS and may differ from averages in the book where averages can include data from multiple reference years, based on countries' data availability.
To know more about possible exceptions on data please click on the "Download Indicator" link on each variable. When a year of reference corresponds to a school year encompassing two years, the reference reads as follows: 2026 for school year 2025/2026 in the Northern Hemisphere.
*TALIS averages are based on all countries participating in the TALIS survey, including partner countries and economies. This explains the difference between the OECD average and the TALIS averages. Data from the TALIS survey and Education at a Glance (EAG) may differ. See Annex E of the TALIS technical report and Sources Methodologies and Technical Notes of EAG 2025 for more details about the data collections.
For additional notes, please refer to annexes in the list of links below the introductory country profile text.