Share of children who are not in pre-primary school in Kenya
Kenya: Share of children who are not in pre-primary school was 7.9% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Share of children who are not in pre-primary school in Kenya, 2001–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Kenya recorded 7.9% for share of children who are not in pre-primary school in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 10 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 85.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who are not in pre-primary school in Kenya peaked at 56.6% in 2008 and was at its lowest, 7.9%, in 2023.
Kenya ranks 104th of 179 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 10 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 54.0% | 52.6% | 56.6% | 9 |
| 2020s | 7.9% | 7.9% | 7.9% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Kenya
More education data for Kenya
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 60.7% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 36.3% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 98.2% (2023)
- Primary education, teachers 281,500 (2023)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 3.17 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 96.6% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children who are not in pre-primary school in Kenya?
- Share of children who are not in pre-primary school in Kenya was 7.9% in 2023, 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 Kenya?
- The highest recorded value was 56.6% in 2008.
- What is the lowest share of children who are not in pre-primary school recorded in Kenya?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.9% in 2023.
- How does Kenya rank for share of children who are not in pre-primary school?
- Kenya ranks 104th out of 179 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of children who are not in pre-primary school rising or falling in Kenya?
- Over the last ten years it is down 85.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Kenya 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.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 10 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
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.