Child development in the preschool years is shaped by both access to organized early childhood education and the experiences children have with adults at home or in their communities. UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children 2025 Statistical Compendium, Table 10, reports both measures for selected countries. The education measure covers children aged 36–59 months, while the responsive-care measure covers children aged 24–59 months and asks whether an adult provided early stimulation and responsive care during the previous three days.
Contents
- What these child development statistics measure
- Highest and lowest early education participation
- Responsive care across countries
- Comparing education and care measures
- Country statistics from Afghanistan to Cuba
- Country statistics from East Asia to Haiti
What these child development statistics measure
The first percentage is the share of children aged 36–59 months who attended early childhood education. It describes participation in an organized early-learning setting for children roughly three to just under five years old. The second percentage is the share of children aged 24–59 months who received early stimulation and responsive care from an adult in the past three days. Because the age ranges and reference periods differ, the two percentages should be read as related indicators rather than as a single score.
All figures in this article come from the UNICEF State of the World’s Children 2025 Statistical Compendium, Table 10. The supplied country figures do not include individual survey years, so no single measurement date is assigned to them here. They are country-level percentages, not global averages, forecasts, or estimates calculated from the listed countries. The source label is retained because these indicators describe different dimensions of children’s early experiences.
Highest and lowest early education participation
Early childhood education participation ranges widely in the reported countries. Belarus has the highest listed value, at 91% of children aged 36–59 months. Georgia follows at 78%, while Albania and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea each report 73%. Ghana is close behind at 71%.
At the other end, Afghanistan reports 1% participation among children aged 36–59 months, followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo at 5%. Eswatini and Guinea each report 9%, Bhutan reports 10%, and Benin and Bosnia and Herzegovina each report 13%. Algeria and Guinea-Bissau each report 14%.
| Country | Early childhood education, ages 36–59 months |
|---|---|
| Belarus | 91% |
| Georgia | 78% |
| Albania | 73% |
| Democratic People’s Republic of Korea | 73% |
| Ghana | 71% |
| Haiti | 63% |
| Belize | 55% |
| Ecuador | 54% |
| Cuba | 50% |
| Afghanistan | 1% |
The contrast between the highest and lowest listed education figures is substantial: the reported values span from 1% in Afghanistan to 91% in Belarus. That spread should not be treated as a causal comparison. The table identifies differences in reported participation, but the supplied figures do not provide the explanatory factors, survey dates, or uncertainty ranges needed to explain why countries differ.
Responsive care across countries
The responsive-care indicator is highest among the supplied figures in Belarus and Fiji, both at 97% of children aged 24–59 months. Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea each report 95%. Cuba and Guyana each report 90%, while Belize reports 88%.
The lowest listed responsive-care figure is 16% in Gambia. Eswatini and Guinea each report 31%, Ghana reports 34%, Benin reports 39%, and Guinea-Bissau reports 43%. The Democratic Republic of the Congo reports 44%. These percentages refer specifically to an adult providing early stimulation and responsive care during the past three days; they do not measure every form of caregiving or every developmental experience.
A high responsive-care percentage can coexist with a lower education-participation percentage. For example, Fiji reports 97% responsive care but 22% early childhood education participation. Belize reports 88% responsive care and 55% education participation. Conversely, Ghana reports 71% education participation and 34% responsive care. These pairings show why the two indicators should be considered separately.
Comparing education and care measures
The following selected comparisons place the two measures side by side. The percentages are reported values from the same UNICEF table, but they apply to different age groups and different concepts.
| Country | Education, ages 36–59 months | Responsive care, ages 24–59 months |
|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | 1% | 54% |
| Albania | 73% | 78% |
| Belarus | 91% | 97% |
| Belize | 55% | 88% |
| Fiji | 22% | 97% |
| Ghana | 71% | 34% |
| Georgia | 78% | 78% |
| Haiti | 63% | 54% |
In Afghanistan, the reported education-participation figure is 1%, while the responsive-care figure is 54%. In Fiji, the corresponding values are 22% and 97%. Ghana shows the reverse pattern among these examples: 71% attended early childhood education, compared with 34% receiving the measured responsive care. Georgia reports the same percentage for both measures, at 78%, although the age ranges and definitions remain different.
The numbers therefore support a two-part view of early development. Organized education captures one form of opportunity, while recent adult-child interaction captures another. Neither percentage alone describes the full quality, continuity, accessibility, or developmental effect of children’s experiences.
Country statistics from Afghanistan to Cuba
Afghanistan reports 1% early childhood education participation for children aged 36–59 months and 54% receiving early stimulation and responsive care from an adult in the past three days. Albania reports 73% and 78%, respectively. Algeria reports 14% education participation and 61% responsive care. Azerbaijan reports 26% and 68%.
Bangladesh reports 19% of children aged 36–59 months attending early childhood education and 63% receiving the measured responsive care. Belarus reports 91% and 97%. Belize reports 55% and 88%. Benin reports 13% and 39%. Bhutan reports 10% and 54%.
Bosnia and Herzegovina reports 13% early education participation and 95% responsive care. Cuba reports 50% and 90%. These paired figures make clear that access to an organized setting and recent adult-provided stimulation can have very different reported levels within the same country.
Country statistics from East Asia to Haiti
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea reports 73% early childhood education participation among children aged 36–59 months and 95% responsive care among children aged 24–59 months. The Democratic Republic of the Congo reports 5% and 44%. The Dominican Republic reports 48% and 63%. Ecuador reports 54% and 63%.
El Salvador reports 20% education participation and 75% responsive care. Eswatini reports 9% and 31%. Fiji reports 22% and 97%. Gambia reports 24% and 16%. Georgia reports 78% for both indicators. Ghana reports 71% education participation and 34% responsive care.
Guinea reports 9% and 31%. Guinea-Bissau reports 14% and 43%. Guyana reports 47% early education participation and 90% responsive care. Haiti reports 63% and 54%.
Across this group, the education measure ranges from 5% in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to 78% in Georgia, while the responsive-care measure ranges from 16% in Gambia to 97% in Fiji. Those ranges are descriptive of the supplied country values; they are not a ranking of national child development outcomes. The source reports participation and recent care indicators, not a direct developmental assessment.
How to read these statistics
The figures are most useful when their definitions remain attached to them. “Early childhood education” here refers to attendance among children aged 36–59 months. “Early stimulation and responsive care” refers to an adult providing that care during the three days before measurement among children aged 24–59 months. Mixing the denominators or treating the measures as interchangeable would obscure what each percentage actually says.
The UNICEF source also matters for interpretation. These are entries from the State of the World’s Children 2025 Statistical Compendium, Table 10, and the supplied record does not provide survey years for individual countries. Readers should therefore avoid presenting the figures as if they were all collected in the same year or as a time trend. They are best used as a cross-country snapshot of two early-childhood indicators as reported in that compendium.
For child development discussions, the central message is measurement-specific: participation in early childhood education and recent responsive interaction are connected areas of children’s lives, but they are not substitutes. A country can report high levels on one indicator and lower levels on the other, so both should be kept visible when describing early learning and care.