Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age was 31.3% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Latest (2023)
31.3%
Change on year
down 18.4%
World rank
27th
of 183 countries
All-time high
38.3%
in 2021
All-time low
30.8%
in 2019
Years of data
5
2018–2023
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Papua New Guinea, 2018–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2023, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Papua New Guinea stood at 31.3%.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 18.4% on the previous year and up 0.4% over ten years.
That places Papua New Guinea 27th out of 183 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Papua New Guinea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 31.2% | — |
| 2019 | 30.8% | -1.1% |
| 2020 | 36.9% | +19.8% |
| 2021 | 38.3% | +3.8% |
| 2023 | 31.3% | -18.4% |
Papua New Guinea compared with similar countries
- Papua New Guinea's 31.3% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 13.7%, 2.3× the median. (40 countries reporting)
- Papua New Guinea's 31.3% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 6.2%, 5.1× the median. (30 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 31.0% | 30.8% | 31.2% | 2 |
| 2020s | 35.5% | 31.3% | 38.3% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea
More education data for Papua New Guinea
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 14,791 (2016)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 80,915 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 226,545 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 208,353 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 655,030 (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 1.65 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 10.31 % change on previous year (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.1593 units per person (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Papua New Guinea?
- Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Papua New Guinea was 31.3% in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 38.3% in 2021.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was 30.8% in 2019.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 27th out of 183 countries with data for 2023.
- Is out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Papua New Guinea 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 (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 5 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release