Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in China
China: Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age was 6.7% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in China, 2000–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
China recorded 6.7% for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in 2025.
That represents a change of down 1.5% on the previous year and up 97.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in China peaked at 10.6% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 3.2%, in 2016.
That places China 96th out of 206 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 26 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in China, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 10.6% | — |
| 2001 | 8.4% | -20.8% |
| 2002 | 6.9% | -17.9% |
| 2003 | 6.2% | -10.1% |
| 2004 | 6.2% | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 6.9% | +11.3% |
| 2006 | 8.1% | +17.4% |
| 2007 | 9.0% | +11.1% |
| 2008 | 9.0% | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 8.8% | -2.2% |
| 2010 | 8.5% | -3.4% |
| 2011 | 7.7% | -9.4% |
| 2012 | 6.1% | -20.8% |
| 2013 | 4.6% | -24.6% |
| 2014 | 3.8% | -17.4% |
| 2015 | 3.4% | -10.5% |
| 2016 | 3.2% | -5.9% |
| 2017 | 3.3% | +3.1% |
| 2018 | 3.9% | +18.2% |
| 2019 | 4.8% | +23.1% |
| 2020 | 5.8% | +20.8% |
| 2021 | 6.6% | +13.8% |
| 2022 | 6.8% | +3.0% |
| 2023 | 6.8% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 6.8% | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 6.7% | -1.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 8.0% | 6.2% | 10.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.9% | 3.2% | 8.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 6.6% | 5.8% | 6.8% | 6 |
Countries ranked near China
More education data for China
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 7.41 million (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 7,020 (2021)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 21.58 million (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 19.36 million (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 97.98 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 108.57 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 0.9587 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0771 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in China?
- Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in China was 6.7% in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age recorded in China?
- The highest recorded value was 10.6% in 2000.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.2% in 2016.
- How does China rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age?
- China ranks 96th out of 206 countries with data for 2025.
- Is out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is up 97.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this China data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age, both sexes (modelled data) (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 26 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release