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 10.6% in 2019. ▼ Falling

Latest (2019)
10.6%
Change on year
down 0.4%
Rank
16th
of 43 groups
All-time high
26.4%
in 1971
All-time low
10.6%
in 2019
Years of data
50
1970–2019

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

0102030197019942019

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.

Analysis

World recorded 10.6% 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.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.4% on the previous year and down 14.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower in World peaked at 26.4% in 1971 and was at its lowest, 10.6%, in 2019.

World ranks 16th of 43 groups on this measure, 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, both sexes (%) in World, 1970 to 2019.
Year % Change
1970 26.0%
1971 26.4% +1.5%
1972 26.2% -0.9%
1973 24.6% -5.8%
1974 24.5% -0.5%
1975 23.6% -3.9%
1976 23.2% -1.8%
1977 23.2% +0.1%
1978 23.7% +2.2%
1979 23.3% -1.6%
1980 22.6% -3.1%
1981 22.1% -2.1%
1982 21.8% -1.3%
1983 21.8% -0.2%
1984 21.7% -0.1%
1985 21.3% -1.8%
1986 20.9% -2.1%
1987 20.7% -1.1%
1988 20.4% -1.6%
1989 20.1% -1.1%
1990 20.2% +0.2%
1991 20.0% -0.7%
1992 20.2% +1.0%
1993 20.1% -0.5%
1994 20.2% +0.2%
1995 20.4% +1.1%
1996 20.3% -0.3%
1997 20.4% +0.1%
1998 20.1% -1.4%
1999 19.5% -2.8%
2000 18.8% -3.7%
2001 18.4% -2.1%
2002 17.8% -3.4%
2003 16.2% -8.9%
2004 15.0% -7.1%
2005 14.2% -5.3%
2006 13.9% -2.4%
2007 12.7% -8.6%
2008 12.4% -2.0%
2009 12.4% -0.7%
2010 12.0% -2.5%
2011 11.9% -1.0%
2012 11.5% -3.4%
2013 11.2% -2.4%
2014 11.2% -0.7%
2015 11.0% -1.6%
2016 10.8% -1.8%
2017 10.7% -1.3%
2018 10.6% -0.1%
2019 10.6% -0.4%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 24.5% 23.2% 26.4% 10
1980s 21.3% 20.1% 22.6% 10
1990s 20.1% 19.5% 20.4% 10
2000s 15.2% 12.4% 18.8% 10
2010s 11.2% 10.6% 12.0% 10

Countries ranked near World

  1. 13 Jordan 22.8% compare
  2. 14 Puerto Rico 21.2% compare
  3. 15 Honduras 21.1% compare
  4. 16 Côte d'Ivoire 19.8% compare
  5. 17 Yemen 19.6% compare
  6. 18 Guatemala 18.1% compare
  7. 19 Mozambique 17.8% compare

See the full ranking of 192 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 10.6% 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 26.4% 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 10.6% in 2019.
How does World rank for out-of-school rate for children and adolescents of primary and lower?
World ranks 16th 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 14.1%. 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, 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 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/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/