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 15.7% in 2019. ▼ Falling

Latest (2019)
15.7%
Change on year
down 1.8%
Rank
10th
of 43 groups
All-time high
41.9%
in 1971
All-time low
15.7%
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

010203040197019942019

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.

Analysis

In 2019, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Arab World stood at 15.7%. That is the lowest value across all 50 years on record.

That represents a change of down 1.8% on the previous year and down 9.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Arab World peaked at 41.9% in 1971 and was at its lowest, 15.7%, in 2019.

That places Arab World 10th out of 43 groups with data for 2019, putting it 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, both sexes (%) in Arab World, 1970 to 2019.
Year % Change
1970 41.3%
1971 41.9% +1.6%
1972 40.4% -3.5%
1973 39.7% -1.8%
1974 39.1% -1.5%
1975 38.2% -2.3%
1976 36.9% -3.3%
1977 36.2% -2.0%
1978 36.0% -0.5%
1979 35.4% -1.8%
1980 34.0% -3.9%
1981 33.5% -1.5%
1982 33.7% +0.5%
1983 33.3% -0.9%
1984 33.1% -0.9%
1985 31.4% -4.9%
1986 31.1% -1.1%
1987 29.9% -3.9%
1988 29.4% -1.7%
1989 29.3% -0.1%
1990 29.4% +0.3%
1991 28.7% -2.5%
1992 30.6% +6.5%
1993 29.8% -2.3%
1994 28.7% -3.8%
1995 29.1% +1.2%
1996 27.2% -6.5%
1997 26.6% -2.1%
1998 26.1% -1.6%
1999 24.7% -5.4%
2000 23.8% -3.8%
2001 22.8% -4.3%
2002 21.9% -4.1%
2003 21.3% -2.7%
2004 20.6% -3.3%
2005 19.7% -4.2%
2006 19.6% -0.5%
2007 18.8% -4.1%
2008 18.0% -4.4%
2009 17.4% -3.2%
2010 16.6% -4.4%
2011 16.8% +1.3%
2012 16.4% -2.8%
2013 17.8% +8.9%
2014 17.6% -1.4%
2015 17.2% -2.3%
2016 16.8% -2.0%
2017 16.4% -2.4%
2018 16.0% -2.8%
2019 15.7% -1.7%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 38.5% 35.4% 41.9% 10
1980s 31.9% 29.3% 34.0% 10
1990s 28.1% 24.7% 30.6% 10
2000s 20.4% 17.4% 23.8% 10
2010s 16.7% 15.7% 17.8% 10

Countries ranked near Arab World

  1. 7 Syrian Arab Republic 33.3% compare
  2. 8 Guinea 31.8% compare
  3. 9 Burkina Faso 30.7% compare
  4. 10 Ethiopia 26.8% compare
  5. 11 Bahamas 25.6% compare
  6. 12 Mauritania 25.0% compare
  7. 13 Jordan 22.8% compare

See the full ranking of 192 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 15.7% 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 41.9% 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 15.7% 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 9.9%. 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, both sexes (%). 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/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, both sexes (%)
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
192 places, 4,615 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/