Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Least developed countries

Least developed countries: Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower was 22.1% in 2019. ▼ Falling

Latest (2019)
22.1%
Change on year
down 0.8%
Rank
8th
of 43 groups
All-time high
56.3%
in 1971
All-time low
22.1%
in 2019
Years of data
50
1970–2019

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

0204060197019942019

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.

Analysis

In 2019, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Least developed countries stood at 22.1%. That is the lowest value across all 50 years on record.

The figure is down 0.8% on the previous year and down 13.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Least developed countries peaked at 56.3% in 1971 and was at its lowest, 22.1%, in 2019.

That places Least developed countries 8th 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 Least developed countries, year by year

Annual values for Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower secondary school age, both sexes (%) in Least developed countries, 1970 to 2019.
Year % Change
1970 55.9%
1971 56.3% +0.7%
1972 54.4% -3.4%
1973 52.2% -3.9%
1974 52.3% +0.1%
1975 50.6% -3.2%
1976 49.4% -2.4%
1977 48.7% -1.4%
1978 47.9% -1.6%
1979 47.3% -1.3%
1980 46.5% -1.7%
1981 46.0% -1.1%
1982 46.3% +0.6%
1983 46.4% +0.3%
1984 46.6% +0.3%
1985 47.0% +0.9%
1986 47.0% +0.0%
1987 47.3% +0.5%
1988 45.8% -3.0%
1989 46.2% +0.7%
1990 46.6% +1.0%
1991 45.8% -1.9%
1992 46.1% +0.7%
1993 46.1% -0.1%
1994 45.7% -0.8%
1995 44.6% -2.5%
1996 44.3% -0.5%
1997 43.0% -3.0%
1998 44.3% +3.2%
1999 44.2% -0.4%
2000 42.4% -4.1%
2001 40.6% -4.2%
2002 37.7% -7.1%
2003 35.1% -6.8%
2004 33.3% -5.2%
2005 31.6% -5.1%
2006 29.4% -6.9%
2007 28.0% -4.9%
2008 26.1% -6.6%
2009 25.4% -2.6%
2010 25.1% -1.2%
2011 24.3% -3.4%
2012 23.6% -3.0%
2013 23.1% -1.8%
2014 23.1% -0.1%
2015 23.4% +1.1%
2016 23.2% -0.9%
2017 22.6% -2.3%
2018 22.3% -1.6%
2019 22.1% -0.8%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 51.5% 47.3% 56.3% 10
1980s 46.5% 45.8% 47.3% 10
1990s 45.1% 43.0% 46.6% 10
2000s 33.0% 25.4% 42.4% 10
2010s 23.3% 22.1% 25.1% 10

Countries ranked near Least developed countries

  1. 5 Central African Republic 41.7% compare
  2. 6 Chad 39.2% compare
  3. 7 Syrian Arab Republic 33.3% compare
  4. 8 Guinea 31.8% compare
  5. 9 Burkina Faso 30.7% compare
  6. 10 Ethiopia 26.8% compare
  7. 11 Bahamas 25.6% compare

See the full ranking of 192 places →

More reference data data for Least developed countries

All data for Least developed countries →

Frequently asked questions

What is out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Least developed countries?
Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Least developed countries was 22.1% 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 Least developed countries?
The highest recorded value was 56.3% in 1971.
What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower recorded in Least developed countries?
The lowest recorded value was 22.1% in 2019.
How does Least developed countries rank for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower?
Least developed countries ranks 8th 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 Least developed countries?
Over the last ten years it is down 13.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Least developed 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, both sexes (%). 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 Least developed countries. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 09 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/out-of-school-rate-for-children-and-adolescents-of-primary-and-lower-secondary-school-age/least-developed-countries-un-classification/

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/least-developed-countries-un-classification/">Out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in Least developed countries</a> — Statizoid

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/