Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)

Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income): Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower was 6.0% in 2019. ▼ Falling

Latest (2019)
6.0%
Change on year
down 3.8%
Rank
22nd
of 43 groups
All-time high
23.1%
in 1971
All-time low
6.0%
in 2019
Years of data
50
1970–2019

Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income), 1970–2019

510152025197019942019

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.

Analysis

In 2019, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) stood at 6.0%. That is the lowest value across all 50 years on record.

The figure is down 3.8% on the previous year and down 22.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) peaked at 23.1% in 1971 and was at its lowest, 6.0%, in 2019.

That places Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) 22nd out of 43 groups with data for 2019, putting it in the middle of the range.

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 Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income), year by year

Annual values for Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower secondary school age, male (%) in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income), 1970 to 2019.
Year % Change
1970 22.7%
1971 23.1% +1.6%
1972 21.5% -6.8%
1973 20.8% -3.5%
1974 20.2% -2.7%
1975 19.5% -3.9%
1976 17.9% -7.8%
1977 17.2% -4.3%
1978 16.8% -2.3%
1979 16.8% +0.2%
1980 16.0% -5.1%
1981 16.0% +0.3%
1982 15.9% -0.6%
1983 15.8% -0.6%
1984 15.6% -1.6%
1985 14.8% -4.8%
1986 14.8% -0.3%
1987 14.1% -4.4%
1988 14.1% -0.3%
1989 14.2% +0.7%
1990 13.4% -5.9%
1991 12.7% -4.9%
1992 13.7% +8.1%
1993 13.7% -0.1%
1994 13.5% -1.4%
1995 14.0% +3.5%
1996 13.3% -5.1%
1997 13.2% -0.6%
1998 13.6% +3.0%
1999 13.2% -2.9%
2000 12.5% -5.4%
2001 10.7% -14.3%
2002 9.6% -9.8%
2003 9.5% -1.3%
2004 8.7% -8.3%
2005 8.8% +0.2%
2006 9.2% +4.9%
2007 8.7% -5.1%
2008 8.3% -5.1%
2009 7.7% -6.8%
2010 7.5% -2.8%
2011 7.6% +2.1%
2012 6.7% -13.0%
2013 7.9% +19.1%
2014 7.5% -5.1%
2015 7.3% -3.2%
2016 6.9% -5.2%
2017 6.6% -4.8%
2018 6.2% -5.3%
2019 6.0% -3.8%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 19.7% 16.8% 23.1% 10
1980s 15.1% 14.1% 16.0% 10
1990s 13.4% 12.7% 14.0% 10
2000s 9.4% 7.7% 12.5% 10
2010s 7.0% 6.0% 7.9% 10

Countries ranked near Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)

  1. 19 Cote d'Ivoire 16.3% compare
  2. 20 Laos 16.2% compare
  3. 21 El Salvador 15.0% compare
  4. 22 Suriname 14.9% compare
  5. 23 Mozambique 14.7% compare
  6. 24 Yemen 14.2% compare
  7. 25 Cayman Islands 13.2% compare

See the full ranking of 191 places →

More reference data data for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)

All data for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) →

Frequently asked questions

What is out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)?
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) was 6.0% 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 Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)?
The highest recorded value was 23.1% in 1971.
What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower recorded in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)?
The lowest recorded value was 6.0% in 2019.
How does Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) rank for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower?
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) ranks 22nd 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 Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)?
Over the last ten years it is down 22.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) 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 Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income). Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 18 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/out-of-school-rate-for-children-and-adolescents-of-primary-and-lower-secondary-school-age-4/middle-east-north-africa-afghanistan-and-pakistan-excluding-high-income/

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/middle-east-north-africa-afghanistan-and-pakistan-excluding-high-income/">Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income)</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/