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

World: Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower was 10.0% in 2019. ▼ Falling

Latest (2019)
10.0%
Change on year
down 0.3%
Rank
18th
of 43 groups
All-time high
20.9%
in 1971
All-time low
10.0%
in 2019
Years of data
50
1970–2019

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

05101520197019942019

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.

Analysis

World recorded 10.0% 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.

That represents a change of down 0.3% on the previous year and down 13.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in World peaked at 20.9% in 1971 and was at its lowest, 10.0%, in 2019.

That places World 18th 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 World, year by year

Annual values for Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower secondary school age, male (%) in World, 1970 to 2019.
Year % Change
1970 20.8%
1971 20.9% +0.8%
1972 20.7% -0.9%
1973 19.7% -5.0%
1974 19.7% +0.1%
1975 19.1% -3.2%
1976 18.7% -2.0%
1977 18.5% -0.9%
1978 18.6% +0.4%
1979 18.2% -2.2%
1980 17.6% -3.2%
1981 17.3% -1.6%
1982 17.1% -1.1%
1983 17.1% +0.1%
1984 17.3% +0.7%
1985 17.2% -0.6%
1986 17.0% -0.9%
1987 16.9% -0.5%
1988 16.7% -1.5%
1989 16.6% -0.7%
1990 16.6% +0.3%
1991 16.5% -0.5%
1992 16.7% +1.2%
1993 16.8% +0.2%
1994 16.9% +0.9%
1995 17.1% +1.2%
1996 17.2% +0.5%
1997 17.3% +0.8%
1998 17.1% -1.3%
1999 16.7% -2.3%
2000 16.1% -3.5%
2001 15.9% -1.4%
2002 15.5% -2.8%
2003 14.6% -5.6%
2004 13.6% -6.9%
2005 12.8% -5.7%
2006 12.7% -1.2%
2007 11.4% -9.9%
2008 11.4% +0.3%
2009 11.6% +1.3%
2010 11.4% -1.7%
2011 11.5% +0.6%
2012 11.0% -3.8%
2013 10.8% -1.8%
2014 10.8% -0.5%
2015 10.5% -2.8%
2016 10.2% -2.2%
2017 10.1% -1.1%
2018 10.1% -0.6%
2019 10.0% -0.3%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 19.5% 18.2% 20.9% 10
1980s 17.1% 16.6% 17.6% 10
1990s 16.9% 16.5% 17.3% 10
2000s 13.6% 11.4% 16.1% 10
2010s 10.6% 10.0% 11.5% 10

Countries ranked near World

  1. 15 Honduras 22.3% compare
  2. 16 Jamaica 17.7% compare
  3. 17 Guatemala 17.4% compare
  4. 18 Burundi 17.0% compare
  5. 19 Côte d'Ivoire 16.3% compare
  6. 20 Lao People's Democratic Republic 16.2% compare
  7. 21 El Salvador 15.0% compare

See the full ranking of 191 places →

More reference data data for World

All data for World →

Frequently asked questions

What is out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in World?
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in World was 10.0% 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 World?
The highest recorded value was 20.9% in 1971.
What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower recorded in World?
The lowest recorded value was 10.0% in 2019.
How does World rank for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower?
World ranks 18th 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 World?
Over the last ten years it is down 13.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this 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, male (%). 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 World. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 10 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/out-of-school-rate-for-children-and-adolescents-of-primary-and-lower-secondary-school-age-4/world/

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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/