Sri Lanka’s doctoral graduates have nearly doubled over the past decade, rising from 6,557 in 2012 to 11,757 in 2024, according to educational attainment data from the Census of Population and Housing 2024. Despite the growth, PhD holders still account for just 0.1% of the population aged 25 and above.
Broad gains across all levels
The census data reveals a sweeping upward shift in educational attainment across the country:
- Degree holders more than doubled from 358,052 (3.0%) to 780,958 (5.6%)
- Tertiary education (diploma and above) grew from 2.2 million (18.2%) to 3.6 million (26.2%) — an 8 percentage-point jump
- G.C.E. Advanced Level qualifiers rose from 1.7 million (14.2%) to 2.7 million (19.4%)
At the same time, the population with only primary education declined from 18.4% to 12.5%, and those with no formal schooling fell from 4.7% to 2.9%.
Structural gap remains
While the headline figures point to progress, the data underscores a persistent structural gap. Secondary education remains the modal attainment level, with roughly 58% of adults in both census years — suggesting the education system is retaining more students through O-Levels but the bottleneck remains at the A-Level-to-university transition.
The findings add to the demographic picture painted by other census releases, including a shrinking workforce and ageing population that together raise questions about whether the education gains are translating into economic productivity.
