Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone: Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age was 7.3% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Sierra Leone, 2000–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Sierra Leone stood at 7.3%. That is the lowest value across all 26 years on record.
That represents a change of down 24.7% on the previous year and down 77.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Sierra Leone peaked at 40.4% in 2003 and was at its lowest, 7.3%, in 2025.
That places Sierra Leone 91st 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 Sierra Leone, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 38.5% | — |
| 2001 | 39.2% | +1.8% |
| 2002 | 40.2% | +2.6% |
| 2003 | 40.4% | +0.5% |
| 2004 | 39.1% | -3.2% |
| 2005 | 37.0% | -5.4% |
| 2006 | 35.7% | -3.5% |
| 2007 | 35.3% | -1.1% |
| 2008 | 35.3% | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 35.6% | +0.8% |
| 2010 | 36.3% | +2.0% |
| 2011 | 37.4% | +3.0% |
| 2012 | 38.0% | +1.6% |
| 2013 | 36.6% | -3.7% |
| 2014 | 35.0% | -4.4% |
| 2015 | 33.0% | -5.7% |
| 2016 | 31.3% | -5.2% |
| 2017 | 28.9% | -7.7% |
| 2018 | 26.1% | -9.7% |
| 2019 | 23.8% | -8.8% |
| 2020 | 21.7% | -8.8% |
| 2021 | 19.1% | -12.0% |
| 2022 | 15.9% | -16.8% |
| 2023 | 12.5% | -21.4% |
| 2024 | 9.7% | -22.4% |
| 2025 | 7.3% | -24.7% |
Sierra Leone compared with similar countries
- Sierra Leone's 7.3% is below the median for low income countries, which is 45.1%, 16% of the median. (24 countries reporting)
- Sierra Leone's 7.3% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 34.3%, 21% of the median. (47 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 37.6% | 35.3% | 40.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 32.6% | 23.8% | 38.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 14.4% | 7.3% | 21.7% | 6 |
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 of lower secondary school age in Sierra Leone?
- Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Sierra Leone was 7.3% 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 Sierra Leone?
- The highest recorded value was 40.4% in 2003.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.3% in 2025.
- How does Sierra Leone rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age?
- Sierra Leone ranks 91st out of 206 countries with data for 2025.
- Is out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age rising or falling in Sierra Leone?
- Over the last ten years it is down 77.9%. 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 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