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 17.3% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Sierra Leone, 2013–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Sierra Leone stood at 17.3%. That is the lowest value across all 11 years on record.
That represents a change of down 7.8% on the previous year and down 68.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper in Sierra Leone peaked at 58.2% in 2018 and was at its lowest, 17.3%, in 2024.
That places Sierra Leone 65th out of 179 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 11 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 | 55.6% | — |
| 2015 | 53.9% | -3.1% |
| 2016 | 52.1% | -3.4% |
| 2017 | 51.1% | -1.9% |
| 2018 | 58.2% | +13.9% |
| 2019 | 40.6% | -30.3% |
| 2020 | 38.8% | -4.4% |
| 2021 | 28.1% | -27.4% |
| 2022 | 19.5% | -30.7% |
| 2023 | 18.7% | -3.9% |
| 2024 | 17.3% | -7.8% |
Sierra Leone compared with similar countries
- Sierra Leone's 17.3% is below the median for low income countries, which is 51.0%, 34% of the median. (16 countries reporting)
- Sierra Leone's 17.3% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 38.8%, 45% of the median. (34 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 51.9% | 40.6% | 58.2% | 6 |
| 2020s | 24.5% | 17.3% | 38.8% | 5 |
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 17.3% in 2024, 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 58.2% 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 17.3% in 2024.
- How does Sierra Leone rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents and youth of lower and upper?
- Sierra Leone ranks 65th out of 179 countries with data for 2024.
- 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 68.9%. 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, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 11 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release