Out-of-school rate for children one year younger than official in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa: Out-of-school rate for children one year younger than official was 56.4% in 2019. ▼ Falling

Latest (2019)
56.4%
Change on year
down 0.9%
Rank
3rd
of 40 groups
All-time high
66.3%
in 2008
All-time low
56.4%
in 2019
Years of data
12
2008–2019

Out-of-school rate for children one year younger than official in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2008–2019

02040602008201320192008: 66.3 %2009: 64.7 %2010: 63.9 %2011: 62.9 %2012: 59.8 %2013: 58 %2014: 57.4 %2015: 56.6 %2016: 56.8 %2017: 56.7 %2018: 57 %2019: 56.4 %

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.

Analysis

Sub-Saharan Africa recorded 56.4% for out-of-school rate for children one year younger than official in 2019. That is the lowest value across all 12 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.9% on the previous year and down 12.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children one year younger than official in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 66.3% in 2008 and was at its lowest, 56.4%, in 2019.

Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 3rd of 40 groups on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 12 years of available data.

Out-of-school rate for children one year younger than official in Sub-Saharan Africa, year by year

Annual values for Out-of-school rate for children one year younger than official primary entrance age, both sexes (%) in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2008 to 2019.
Year % Change
2008 66.3%
2009 64.7% -2.4%
2010 63.9% -1.2%
2011 62.9% -1.6%
2012 59.8% -4.9%
2013 58.0% -3.1%
2014 57.4% -0.9%
2015 56.6% -1.5%
2016 56.8% +0.5%
2017 56.7% -0.2%
2018 57.0% +0.4%
2019 56.4% -0.9%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 65.5% 64.7% 66.3% 2
2010s 58.5% 56.4% 63.9% 10

Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa

  1. 1 Tajikistan 87.5% compare
  2. 2 Djibouti 86.6% compare
  3. 3 Chad 86.1% compare
  4. 4 Senegal 83.9% compare
  5. 5 Iraq 82.3%
  6. 6 Burkina Faso 80.9% compare

See the full ranking of 173 places →

More reference data data for Sub-Saharan Africa

All data for Sub-Saharan Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is out-of-school rate for children one year younger than official in Sub-Saharan Africa?
Out-of-school rate for children one year younger than official in Sub-Saharan Africa was 56.4% in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest out-of-school rate for children one year younger than official recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
The highest recorded value was 66.3% in 2008.
What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children one year younger than official recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 56.4% in 2019.
How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for out-of-school rate for children one year younger than official?
Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 3rd out of 40 groups with data for 2019.
Is out-of-school rate for children one year younger than official rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?
Over the last ten years it is down 12.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa data come from?
The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Out-of-school rate for children one year younger than official primary entrance age, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Out-of-school rate for children one year younger than official in Sub-Saharan Africa. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 13 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/out-of-school-rate-for-children-one-year-younger-than-official-primary-entrance-age-both/sub-saharan-africa/

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About this data

Indicator
Out-of-school rate for children one year younger than official primary entrance age, both sexes (%)
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
173 places, 2,379 data points, 1997–2020
Last refreshed

Proportion of children in the official age range for one year before primary education who are not enrolled in pre-primary education. To calculate the indicator, the number of students of the official age for one year before primary education enrolled in pre-primary education is subtracted from the total population for one year before primary education. The result is expressed as a percentage of the population of the official age for the year before primary education. For more information, consult the UNESCO Institute of Statistics website: http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/