Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Lesotho
Lesotho: Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age was 35.3% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Lesotho, 2000–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Lesotho recorded 35.3% for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in 2025. That is the highest value across all 26 years on record.
That represents a change of up 9.3% on the previous year and up 94.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Lesotho peaked at 35.3% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 13.9%, in 2009.
Lesotho ranks 29th of 206 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 25.7% | — |
| 2001 | 23.9% | -7.0% |
| 2002 | 22.0% | -7.9% |
| 2003 | 20.1% | -8.6% |
| 2004 | 18.4% | -8.5% |
| 2005 | 17.0% | -7.6% |
| 2006 | 15.9% | -6.5% |
| 2007 | 15.2% | -4.4% |
| 2008 | 14.4% | -5.3% |
| 2009 | 13.9% | -3.5% |
| 2010 | 13.9% | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 14.5% | +4.3% |
| 2012 | 15.5% | +6.9% |
| 2013 | 16.5% | +6.5% |
| 2014 | 17.2% | +4.2% |
| 2015 | 18.2% | +5.8% |
| 2016 | 19.9% | +9.3% |
| 2017 | 21.4% | +7.5% |
| 2018 | 22.3% | +4.2% |
| 2019 | 23.0% | +3.1% |
| 2020 | 24.2% | +5.2% |
| 2021 | 26.2% | +8.3% |
| 2022 | 28.5% | +8.8% |
| 2023 | 30.5% | +7.0% |
| 2024 | 32.3% | +5.9% |
| 2025 | 35.3% | +9.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 18.6% | 13.9% | 25.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 18.2% | 13.9% | 23.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 29.5% | 24.2% | 35.3% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
- 26 Comoros 37.3% compare
- 27 Eritrea 36.8% compare
- 28 Tanzania, United Republic of 36.1% compare
- 30 Côte d'Ivoire 35.1% compare
- 31 Mauritania 34.3% compare
- 32 Congo 34.1% compare
More education data for Lesotho
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 5,672 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 30,627 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 22,924 (2022)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 23,698 (2022)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 136,497 (2017)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 309,480 (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -0.8093 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.1324 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Lesotho?
- Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Lesotho was 35.3% 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 Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 35.3% in 2025.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 13.9% in 2009.
- How does Lesotho rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age?
- Lesotho ranks 29th out of 206 countries with data for 2025.
- Is out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is up 94.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Lesotho 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