Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)

Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries): Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower was 4.4% in 2019. ▼ Falling

Latest (2019)
4.4%
Change on year
down 3.0%
Rank
33rd
of 43 groups
All-time high
14.5%
in 1970
All-time low
3.7%
in 2008
Years of data
50
1970–2019

Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries), 1970–2019

2.557.51012.515197019942019

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.

Analysis

The most recent figure for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) is 4.4%, measured in 2019.

That represents a change of down 3.0% on the previous year and up 14.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) peaked at 14.5% in 1970 and was at its lowest, 3.7%, in 2008.

That places Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) 33rd out of 43 groups with data for 2019, putting it in the bottom 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 Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries), year by year

Annual values for Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower secondary school age, male (%) in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries), 1970 to 2019.
Year % Change
1970 14.5%
1971 14.5% -0.1%
1972 14.1% -2.3%
1973 13.2% -6.9%
1974 13.5% +2.9%
1975 13.5% -0.7%
1976 12.3% -8.5%
1977 11.6% -5.5%
1978 11.3% -3.2%
1979 10.3% -8.7%
1980 10.1% -2.2%
1981 9.3% -7.6%
1982 9.2% -0.9%
1983 9.2% -0.1%
1984 9.3% +0.7%
1985 9.0% -2.3%
1986 8.9% -1.9%
1987 8.9% +0.1%
1988 9.2% +3.4%
1989 10.4% +12.9%
1990 9.8% -5.9%
1991 9.5% -2.3%
1992 8.8% -8.1%
1993 8.4% -4.2%
1994 8.6% +2.8%
1995 8.5% -1.3%
1996 8.2% -3.9%
1997 8.8% +8.0%
1998 6.9% -21.5%
1999 6.2% -10.9%
2000 5.7% -7.7%
2001 5.4% -5.4%
2002 4.7% -12.8%
2003 4.7% -0.6%
2004 5.6% +19.1%
2005 5.1% -9.2%
2006 5.4% +7.5%
2007 4.3% -20.7%
2008 3.7% -13.3%
2009 3.8% +2.5%
2010 4.1% +7.4%
2011 4.2% +2.1%
2012 4.8% +13.4%
2013 4.4% -7.7%
2014 4.8% +10.3%
2015 4.6% -6.0%
2016 4.5% -2.3%
2017 4.9% +9.4%
2018 4.5% -7.1%
2019 4.4% -3.0%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 12.9% 10.3% 14.5% 10
1980s 9.3% 8.9% 10.4% 10
1990s 8.4% 6.2% 9.8% 10
2000s 4.8% 3.7% 5.7% 10
2010s 4.5% 4.1% 4.9% 10

Countries ranked near Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)

  1. 30 Bhutan 12.3% compare
  2. 31 Moldova 12.2% compare
  3. 32 British Virgin Islands 11.9% compare
  4. 33 Eswatini 11.6% compare
  5. 34 Venezuela 11.4% compare
  6. 35 Sao Tome and Principe 11.1% compare
  7. 36 Botswana 10.8% compare

See the full ranking of 191 places →

More reference data data for Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)

All data for Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) →

Frequently asked questions

What is out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)?
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) was 4.4% 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 Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)?
The highest recorded value was 14.5% in 1970.
What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower recorded in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)?
The lowest recorded value was 3.7% in 2008.
How does Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) rank for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower?
Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) ranks 33rd 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 Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)?
Over the last ten years it is up 14.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) 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, male (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 50 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 Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries). Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 17 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/out-of-school-rate-for-children-and-adolescents-of-primary-and-lower-secondary-school-age-4/latin-america-and-the-caribbean-ida-and-ibrd-countries/

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-4/latin-america-and-the-caribbean-ida-and-ibrd-countries/">Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower secondary school age, male (%)
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
191 places, 4,329 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/