Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in South Africa

South Africa: Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower was 0.8571 GPIA in 2018. ▼ Falling

Latest (2018)
0.8571 GPIA
Change on year
up 8.5%
World rank
85th
of 148 countries
All-time high
0.8571 GPIA
in 2018
All-time low
0.1993 GPIA
in 2015
Years of data
11
1994–2018

Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in South Africa, 1994–2018

0.20.40.60.81994200620181994: 0.81 GPIA1999: 0.729 GPIA2000: 0.831 GPIA2001: 0.781 GPIA2002: 0.753 GPIA2003: 0.745 GPIA2004: 0.736 GPIA2005: 0.717 GPIA2015: 0.199 GPIA2017: 0.79 GPIA2018: 0.857 GPIA

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in GPIA.

Analysis

In 2018, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in South Africa stood at 0.8571 GPIA. That is the highest value across all 11 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 8.5% on the previous year and up 19.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in South Africa peaked at 0.8571 GPIA in 2018 and was at its lowest, 0.1993 GPIA, in 2015.

That places South Africa 85th out of 148 countries with data for 2018, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 11 years of available data.

Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in South Africa, year by year

Annual values for Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower secondary school age, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA) in South Africa, 1994 to 2018.
Year GPIA Change
1994 0.8102 GPIA
1999 0.7291 GPIA -10.0%
2000 0.8315 GPIA +14.0%
2001 0.7813 GPIA -6.0%
2002 0.7526 GPIA -3.7%
2003 0.7448 GPIA -1.0%
2004 0.736 GPIA -1.2%
2005 0.7169 GPIA -2.6%
2015 0.1993 GPIA -72.2%
2017 0.79 GPIA +296.4%
2018 0.8571 GPIA +8.5%

South Africa compared with similar countries

  • South Africa's 0.8571 GPIA is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.9662 GPIA, 89% of the median. (45 countries reporting)
  • South Africa's 0.8571 GPIA is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 1.11 GPIA, 77% of the median. (27 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 0.7696 GPIA 0.7291 GPIA 0.8102 GPIA 2
2000s 0.7605 GPIA 0.7169 GPIA 0.8315 GPIA 6
2010s 0.6154 GPIA 0.1993 GPIA 0.8571 GPIA 3

Countries ranked near South Africa

  1. 82 Honduras 0.8912 GPIA compare
  2. 83 France 0.8767 GPIA compare
  3. 84 Saint Kitts and Nevis 0.8633 GPIA compare
  4. 86 Cambodia 0.8509 GPIA compare
  5. 87 Mauritania 0.841 GPIA compare
  6. 88 Oman 0.8407 GPIA compare

See the full ranking of 191 places →

More reference data data for South Africa

All data for South Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in South Africa?
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in South Africa was 0.8571 GPIA in 2018, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower recorded in South Africa?
The highest recorded value was 0.8571 GPIA in 2018.
What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower recorded in South Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 0.1993 GPIA in 2015.
How does South Africa rank for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower?
South Africa ranks 85th out of 148 countries with data for 2018.
Is out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower rising or falling in South Africa?
Over the last ten years it is up 19.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this South Africa 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, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 11 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 rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in South Africa. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 15 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/out-of-school-rate-for-children-and-adolescents-of-primary-and-lower-secondary-school-age-3/south-africa/

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-rate-for-children-and-adolescents-of-primary-and-lower-secondary-school-age-3/south-africa/">Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in South Africa</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower secondary school age, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA)
Unit
GPIA
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
191 places, 4,346 data points, 1970–2019
Last refreshed

The Adjusted Gender Parity Index (GPIA) is calculated by dividing the female value for the indicator by the male value for the indicator. If the resulting value exceeds 1, the ratio is inverted and subtracted from 2. The adjusted gender parity index is symmetrical around 1 and lies in the range 0-2. An adjusted GPI equal to 1 indicates parity between females and males. In general, a value less than 1 indicates disparity in favor of males and a value greater than 1 indicates disparity in favor of females. For more information, consult the UNESCO Institute for Statistics: http://uis.unesco.org/