Out-of-school children, one year younger than official primary entry in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan

Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan: Out-of-school children, one year younger than official primary entry was 5.01 million number in 2019. ▼ Falling

Latest (2019)
5.01 million number
Change on year
down 0.1%
Rank
19th
of 42 groups
All-time high
5.71 million number
in 1998
All-time low
4.65 million number
in 2015
Years of data
22
1998–2019

Out-of-school children, one year younger than official primary entry in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, 1998–2019

02.0M4.0M6.0M1998200820191998: 5.7M number1999: 5.7M number2000: 5.5M number2001: 5.6M number2002: 5.5M number2003: 5.5M number2004: 5.4M number2005: 5.3M number2006: 5.1M number2007: 5.0M number2008: 5.0M number2009: 4.9M number2010: 4.8M number2011: 4.7M number2012: 4.7M number2013: 4.7M number2014: 4.7M number2015: 4.6M number2016: 4.7M number2017: 4.8M number2018: 5.0M number2019: 5.0M number

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in number.

Analysis

Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan recorded 5.01 million number for out-of-school children, one year younger than official primary entry in 2019.

That represents a change of down 0.1% on the previous year and up 1.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, out-of-school children, one year younger than official primary entry in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan peaked at 5.71 million number in 1998 and was at its lowest, 4.65 million number, in 2015.

Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan ranks 19th of 42 groups on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 22 years of available data.

Out-of-school children, one year younger than official primary entry in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, year by year

Annual values for Out-of-school children, one year younger than official primary entry age, both sexes (number) in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, 1998 to 2019.
Year number Change
1998 5.71 million number
1999 5.67 million number -0.7%
2000 5.53 million number -2.5%
2001 5.62 million number +1.6%
2002 5.52 million number -1.8%
2003 5.51 million number -0.2%
2004 5.42 million number -1.5%
2005 5.34 million number -1.5%
2006 5.08 million number -4.9%
2007 5.05 million number -0.6%
2008 5.02 million number -0.6%
2009 4.93 million number -1.7%
2010 4.82 million number -2.3%
2011 4.72 million number -2.1%
2012 4.65 million number -1.4%
2013 4.74 million number +1.9%
2014 4.72 million number -0.5%
2015 4.65 million number -1.5%
2016 4.75 million number +2.2%
2017 4.85 million number +2.1%
2018 5.01 million number +3.4%
2019 5.01 million number -0.1%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 5.69 million number 5.67 million number 5.71 million number 2
2000s 5.30 million number 4.93 million number 5.62 million number 10
2010s 4.79 million number 4.65 million number 5.01 million number 10

Countries ranked near Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan

  1. 16 Mali 337,041 number compare
  2. 17 Turkey 329,345 number compare
  3. 18 Syria 305,034 number compare
  4. 19 Saudi Arabia 299,776 number compare
  5. 20 Brazil 280,144 number compare
  6. 21 Morocco 240,325 number compare
  7. 22 Guinea 203,865 number compare

See the full ranking of 175 places →

More reference data data for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan

All data for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan →

Frequently asked questions

What is out-of-school children, one year younger than official primary entry in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan?
Out-of-school children, one year younger than official primary entry in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan was 5.01 million number in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest out-of-school children, one year younger than official primary entry recorded in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan?
The highest recorded value was 5.71 million number in 1998.
What is the lowest out-of-school children, one year younger than official primary entry recorded in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan?
The lowest recorded value was 4.65 million number in 2015.
How does Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan rank for out-of-school children, one year younger than official primary entry?
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan ranks 19th out of 42 groups with data for 2019.
Is out-of-school children, one year younger than official primary entry rising or falling in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan?
Over the last ten years it is up 1.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan data come from?
The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Out-of-school children, one year younger than official primary entry age, both sexes (number). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 22 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Out-of-school children, one year younger than official primary entry in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 18 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/out-of-school-children-one-year-younger-than-official-primary-entry-age-both-sexes-number/middle-east-north-africa-afghanistan-and-pakistan/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/out-of-school-children-one-year-younger-than-official-primary-entry-age-both-sexes-number/middle-east-north-africa-afghanistan-and-pakistan/">Out-of-school children, one year younger than official primary entry in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Out-of-school children, one year younger than official primary entry age, both sexes (number)
Unit
number
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
175 places, 2,401 data points, 1997–2020
Last refreshed

Number of children one year before primary entry age who are not enrolled or attending pre-primary education during in a given academic year. For more information, consult the UNESCO Institute of Statistics website: http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/