Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Ghana
Ghana: Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age was 14.4% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Ghana, 2000–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Ghana recorded 14.4% for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in 2025.
That represents a change of down 0.7% on the previous year and down 13.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Ghana peaked at 45.5% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 12.9%, in 2022.
That places Ghana 63rd 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 Ghana, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 45.5% | — |
| 2001 | 40.4% | -11.2% |
| 2002 | 35.9% | -11.1% |
| 2003 | 31.8% | -11.4% |
| 2004 | 27.9% | -12.3% |
| 2005 | 24.5% | -12.2% |
| 2006 | 22.7% | -7.3% |
| 2007 | 22.3% | -1.8% |
| 2008 | 22.1% | -0.9% |
| 2009 | 21.4% | -3.2% |
| 2010 | 20.7% | -3.3% |
| 2011 | 20.6% | -0.5% |
| 2012 | 20.2% | -1.9% |
| 2013 | 19.0% | -5.9% |
| 2014 | 17.6% | -7.4% |
| 2015 | 16.6% | -5.7% |
| 2016 | 16.5% | -0.6% |
| 2017 | 16.7% | +1.2% |
| 2018 | 16.8% | +0.6% |
| 2019 | 16.5% | -1.8% |
| 2020 | 15.5% | -6.1% |
| 2021 | 13.9% | -10.3% |
| 2022 | 12.9% | -7.2% |
| 2023 | 13.4% | +3.9% |
| 2024 | 14.5% | +8.2% |
| 2025 | 14.4% | -0.7% |
Ghana compared with similar countries
- Ghana's 14.4% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 14.4%, 1.0× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Ghana's 14.4% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 34.3%, 42% of the median. (47 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 29.4% | 21.4% | 45.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 18.1% | 16.5% | 20.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 14.1% | 12.9% | 15.5% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Ghana
More education data for Ghana
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 174,414 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 39,902 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 949,095 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 913,117 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 3.33 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 4.98 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 0.6567 % change on previous year (2022)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.1448 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Ghana?
- Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Ghana was 14.4% 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 Ghana?
- The highest recorded value was 45.5% in 2000.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age recorded in Ghana?
- The lowest recorded value was 12.9% in 2022.
- How does Ghana rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age?
- Ghana ranks 63rd out of 206 countries with data for 2025.
- Is out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age rising or falling in Ghana?
- Over the last ten years it is down 13.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Ghana 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.
Download this data
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