In 2000, just 5.3% of Bangladesh’s tertiary-age population was enrolled in a university or other higher-education institution. By 2024 the gross enrolment ratio had reached 23.7%, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics data compiled by the World Bank.
5.3% → 23.7%
Gross tertiary enrolment ratio, 2000 to 2024.
Most of the gain came in two bursts: the ratio climbed from 10.5% in 2009 to 13.3% in 2011, then from 17.4% in 2016 to 22.7% in 2019. Since then growth has flattened: 23.9% in 2021, 23.5% in 2022, 24.2% in 2023 and 23.7% in 2024.
The gross ratio counts all students enrolled, whatever their age, as a share of the five-year age group after secondary school, so it can exceed what a single cohort achieves and is not the share of young people who finish a degree. The data do not show why growth has levelled off; that would need national enrolment, cost and completion data. For policy, the question is whether the plateau reflects limits on places, affordability or the quality of secondary schooling that feeds into higher education.
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, via World Bank WDI (SE.TER.ENRR).