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 48.1% in 2019. ▼ Falling

Latest (2019)
48.1%
Change on year
down 1.9%
Rank
5th
of 43 groups
All-time high
68.6%
in 1971
All-time low
48.1%
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

Sub-Saharan Africa recorded 48.1% for out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in 2019. That is the lowest value across all 50 years on record.

The figure is down 1.9% on the previous year and down 8.3% 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 68.6% in 1971 and was at its lowest, 48.1%, in 2019.

Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 5th of 43 groups on this measure, 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, female (%) in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1970 to 2019.
Year % Change
1970 68.2%
1971 68.6% +0.5%
1972 68.3% -0.4%
1973 68.0% -0.4%
1974 67.8% -0.3%
1975 67.3% -0.7%
1976 66.9% -0.6%
1977 66.6% -0.4%
1978 65.9% -1.0%
1979 65.3% -1.0%
1980 64.7% -0.8%
1981 63.8% -1.4%
1982 62.5% -2.1%
1983 62.7% +0.4%
1984 62.4% -0.5%
1985 62.1% -0.4%
1986 63.9% +2.7%
1987 63.6% -0.4%
1988 63.5% -0.1%
1989 64.4% +1.5%
1990 64.4% -0.1%
1991 64.4% -0.0%
1992 65.0% +1.0%
1993 65.0% -0.1%
1994 65.5% +0.7%
1995 64.6% -1.3%
1996 64.5% -0.2%
1997 64.4% -0.1%
1998 63.7% -1.1%
1999 63.2% -0.9%
2000 62.3% -1.4%
2001 61.5% -1.2%
2002 60.3% -2.0%
2003 59.5% -1.5%
2004 58.2% -2.1%
2005 57.1% -1.8%
2006 56.1% -1.7%
2007 56.0% -0.2%
2008 54.0% -3.6%
2009 52.4% -2.8%
2010 50.8% -3.2%
2011 50.3% -0.8%
2012 49.9% -0.8%
2013 49.8% -0.3%
2014 49.7% -0.1%
2015 49.6% -0.3%
2016 49.0% -1.2%
2017 48.2% -1.6%
2018 49.0% +1.7%
2019 48.1% -1.9%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 67.3% 65.3% 68.6% 10
1980s 63.4% 62.1% 64.7% 10
1990s 64.5% 63.2% 65.5% 10
2000s 57.7% 52.4% 62.3% 10
2010s 49.4% 48.1% 50.8% 10

Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa

  1. 2 Chad 75.8% compare
  2. 3 Mali 66.8% compare
  3. 4 Guinea 66.2% compare
  4. 5 Ethiopia 57.4% compare
  5. 6 Mozambique 56.9% compare
  6. 7 Djibouti 56.0% compare
  7. 8 Côte d'Ivoire 54.8% compare

See the full ranking of 181 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 48.1% 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 68.6% 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 48.1% 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 8.3%. 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, female (%). 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 13 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/out-of-school-rate-for-adolescents-and-youth-of-lower-and-upper-secondary-school-age/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, female (%)
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
181 places, 4,097 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/