Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa: Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper was 45.8% in 2019. ▼ Falling

Latest (2019)
45.8%
Change on year
down 2.0%
Rank
5th
of 43 groups
All-time high
63.3%
in 1971
All-time low
45.8%
in 2019
Years of data
50
1970–2019

Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1970–2019

0204060197019942019

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.

Analysis

The most recent figure for out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Sub-Saharan Africa is 45.8%, measured in 2019. That is the lowest value across all 50 years on record.

That represents a change of down 2.0% on the previous year and down 6.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 63.3% in 1971 and was at its lowest, 45.8%, in 2019.

That places Sub-Saharan Africa 5th out of 43 groups with data for 2019, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 50 years of available data.

Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Sub-Saharan Africa, year by year

Annual values for Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper secondary school age, both sexes (%) in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1970 to 2019.
Year % Change
1970 63.0%
1971 63.3% +0.5%
1972 63.0% -0.4%
1973 62.7% -0.4%
1974 62.5% -0.4%
1975 62.0% -0.7%
1976 61.6% -0.6%
1977 61.4% -0.3%
1978 60.9% -0.9%
1979 60.2% -1.0%
1980 59.8% -0.8%
1981 58.9% -1.4%
1982 57.7% -2.0%
1983 57.8% +0.1%
1984 57.5% -0.6%
1985 57.2% -0.5%
1986 58.8% +2.9%
1987 58.6% -0.4%
1988 58.5% -0.1%
1989 59.3% +1.4%
1990 59.2% -0.2%
1991 59.2% +0.0%
1992 59.8% +0.9%
1993 59.7% -0.2%
1994 60.0% +0.6%
1995 59.3% -1.3%
1996 59.1% -0.2%
1997 59.0% -0.1%
1998 58.3% -1.3%
1999 57.7% -1.0%
2000 57.1% -1.1%
2001 56.3% -1.3%
2002 55.1% -2.2%
2003 54.3% -1.5%
2004 53.2% -2.0%
2005 52.3% -1.6%
2006 51.6% -1.4%
2007 51.8% +0.4%
2008 50.0% -3.4%
2009 48.8% -2.3%
2010 47.3% -3.2%
2011 47.1% -0.5%
2012 46.8% -0.5%
2013 46.8% -0.1%
2014 46.9% +0.2%
2015 46.8% -0.1%
2016 46.4% -1.0%
2017 45.9% -1.0%
2018 46.7% +1.7%
2019 45.8% -2.0%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 62.1% 60.2% 63.3% 10
1980s 58.4% 57.2% 59.8% 10
1990s 59.1% 57.7% 60.0% 10
2000s 53.0% 48.8% 57.1% 10
2010s 46.6% 45.8% 47.3% 10

Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa

  1. 2 Chad 68.5% compare
  2. 3 Mali 63.2% compare
  3. 4 Guinea 57.7% compare
  4. 5 Djibouti 55.6% compare
  5. 6 Ethiopia 55.5% compare
  6. 7 Burkina Faso 54.1% compare
  7. 8 Mozambique 52.8% compare

See the full ranking of 185 places →

More reference data data for Sub-Saharan Africa

All data for Sub-Saharan Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Sub-Saharan Africa?
Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Sub-Saharan Africa was 45.8% in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
The highest recorded value was 63.3% in 1971.
What is the lowest out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 45.8% in 2019.
How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper?
Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 5th out of 43 groups with data for 2019.
Is out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?
Over the last ten years it is down 6.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa data come from?
The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper secondary school age, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Sub-Saharan Africa. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 12 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/out-of-school-rate-for-adolescents-and-youth-of-lower-and-upper-secondary-school-age-both/sub-saharan-africa/

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About this data

Indicator
Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper secondary school age, both sexes (%)
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
185 places, 4,210 data points, 1970–2019
Last refreshed

Number of adolescents and youth of lower secondary and upper secondary school age who are not enrolled or attending school during in a given academic year. For more information, consult the UNESCO Institute of Statistics website: http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/