Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone: Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper was 14.2% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Sierra Leone, 2013–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Sierra Leone recorded 14.2% for out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 10 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 17.7% on the previous year and down 75.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Sierra Leone peaked at 58.7% in 2018 and was at its lowest, 14.2%, in 2023.
That places Sierra Leone 72nd out of 175 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 10 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Sierra Leone, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 57.8% | — |
| 2015 | 54.5% | -5.6% |
| 2016 | 52.4% | -3.9% |
| 2017 | 50.8% | -3.0% |
| 2018 | 58.7% | +15.4% |
| 2019 | 40.8% | -30.4% |
| 2020 | 38.5% | -5.8% |
| 2021 | 27.3% | -29.1% |
| 2022 | 17.3% | -36.7% |
| 2023 | 14.2% | -17.7% |
Sierra Leone compared with similar countries
- Sierra Leone's 14.2% is below the median for low income countries, which is 51.5%, 28% of the median. (16 countries reporting)
- Sierra Leone's 14.2% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 38.3%, 37% of the median. (34 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 52.5% | 40.8% | 58.7% | 6 |
| 2020s | 24.3% | 14.2% | 38.5% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Sierra Leone
More education data for Sierra Leone
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 38,043 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 73,295 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 85,708 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 92,723 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 1.16 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.07 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 2.52 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0003 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.2393 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Sierra Leone?
- Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Sierra Leone was 14.2% in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The highest recorded value was 58.7% in 2018.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The lowest recorded value was 14.2% in 2023.
- How does Sierra Leone rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper?
- Sierra Leone ranks 72nd out of 175 countries with data for 2023.
- Is out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper rising or falling in Sierra Leone?
- Over the last ten years it is down 75.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sierra Leone data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper secondary school age, female (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 10 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release