Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Arab World

Arab World: Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower was 17.3% in 2019. ▼ Falling

Latest (2019)
17.3%
Change on year
down 2.2%
Rank
10th
of 43 groups
All-time high
52.9%
in 1971
All-time low
17.3%
in 2019
Years of data
50
1970–2019

Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Arab World, 1970–2019

20304050197019942019

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.

Analysis

Arab World recorded 17.3% for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in 2019. That is the lowest value across all 50 years on record.

The figure is down 2.2% on the previous year and down 14.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Arab World peaked at 52.9% in 1971 and was at its lowest, 17.3%, in 2019.

Arab World ranks 10th of 43 groups on this measure, in the top quarter.

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

Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Arab World, year by year

Annual values for Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower secondary school age, female (%) in Arab World, 1970 to 2019.
Year % Change
1970 51.9%
1971 52.9% +1.9%
1972 51.3% -3.0%
1973 50.6% -1.4%
1974 49.9% -1.2%
1975 48.6% -2.6%
1976 47.4% -2.5%
1977 46.5% -2.0%
1978 46.2% -0.5%
1979 45.2% -2.2%
1980 43.4% -4.1%
1981 42.5% -2.0%
1982 42.7% +0.4%
1983 42.2% -1.2%
1984 41.9% -0.7%
1985 39.6% -5.4%
1986 39.1% -1.2%
1987 37.5% -4.1%
1988 36.7% -2.2%
1989 36.6% -0.2%
1990 36.5% -0.4%
1991 35.4% -2.9%
1992 37.9% +7.2%
1993 37.0% -2.6%
1994 35.3% -4.6%
1995 35.9% +1.8%
1996 33.1% -7.7%
1997 32.4% -2.1%
1998 31.6% -2.5%
1999 29.9% -5.4%
2000 28.7% -4.0%
2001 27.3% -4.8%
2002 26.0% -4.9%
2003 25.1% -3.5%
2004 24.3% -3.0%
2005 23.2% -4.6%
2006 22.9% -1.5%
2007 21.9% -4.1%
2008 20.9% -4.7%
2009 20.2% -3.6%
2010 19.1% -5.3%
2011 19.0% -0.4%
2012 18.1% -4.7%
2013 19.6% +8.3%
2014 19.3% -1.9%
2015 18.8% -2.5%
2016 18.3% -2.7%
2017 18.2% -0.7%
2018 17.7% -2.7%
2019 17.3% -2.2%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 49.1% 45.2% 52.9% 10
1980s 40.2% 36.6% 43.4% 10
1990s 34.5% 29.9% 37.9% 10
2000s 24.1% 20.2% 28.7% 10
2010s 18.5% 17.3% 19.6% 10

Countries ranked near Arab World

  1. 7 Guinea 38.8% compare
  2. 8 Syrian Arab Republic 34.2% compare
  3. 9 Burkina Faso 30.3% compare
  4. 10 Ethiopia 29.6% compare
  5. 11 Yemen 25.3% compare
  6. 12 Bahamas 24.8% compare
  7. 13 Tunisia 23.9% compare

See the full ranking of 191 places →

More reference data data for Arab World

All data for Arab World →

Frequently asked questions

What is out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Arab World?
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Arab World was 17.3% in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower recorded in Arab World?
The highest recorded value was 52.9% in 1971.
What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower recorded in Arab World?
The lowest recorded value was 17.3% in 2019.
How does Arab World rank for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower?
Arab World ranks 10th out of 43 groups with data for 2019.
Is out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower rising or falling in Arab World?
Over the last ten years it is down 14.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Arab World data come from?
The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower secondary school age, female (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Arab World. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 11 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/out-of-school-rate-for-children-and-adolescents-of-primary-and-lower-secondary-school-age-2/arab-world/

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About this data

Indicator
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower secondary school age, female (%)
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
191 places, 4,340 data points, 1970–2019
Last refreshed

Proportion of children and adolescents in the official age range for primary and lower secondary education who are not enrolled in primary or lower secondary education. To calculate the indicator, the number of students of the official age for primary and lower secondary education enrolled in primary or lower secondary education is subtracted from the total population of primary and lower secondary education. The result is expressed as a percentage of the population of the official age for primary and lower secondary education. For more information, consult the UNESCO Institute of Statistics website: http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/