Share of children who are not in pre-primary school in India
India: Share of children who are not in pre-primary school was 0.6% in 2024. ◆ Volatile
Share of children who are not in pre-primary school in India, 2020–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of children who are not in pre-primary school in India is 0.6%, measured in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 5 years on record.
That represents a change of down 33.3% on the previous year and down 96.1% over five years.
That places India 167th out of 179 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.
Share of children who are not in pre-primary school in India, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 14.8% | — |
| 2021 | 11.2% | -24.3% |
| 2022 | 5.6% | -50.2% |
| 2023 | 0.9% | -84.6% |
| 2024 | 0.6% | -33.3% |
India compared with similar countries
- India's 0.6% is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 34.1%, 2% of the median. (37 countries reporting)
- India's 0.6% is below the median for South Asia, which is 20.0%, 3% of the median. (5 countries reporting)
Countries ranked near India
More education data for India
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 7.31 million (2025)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 3.10 million (2025)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 19.37 million (2025)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 18.52 million (2025)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 133.16 million (2025)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 126.12 million (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -8.85 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0862 units per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children who are not in pre-primary school in India?
- Share of children who are not in pre-primary school in India was 0.6% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of children who are not in pre-primary school recorded in India?
- The highest recorded value was 14.8% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of children who are not in pre-primary school recorded in India?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.6% in 2024.
- How does India rank for share of children who are not in pre-primary school?
- India ranks 167th out of 179 countries with data for 2024.
- Where does this India data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of children who are not in pre-primary school. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Children one year before the official primary entry age (typically age 5) not enrolled in pre-primary education, expressed as a percentage of all children in that age group.