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 5.6% 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 5.6% for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in 2025.
That represents a change of down 1.8% on the previous year and up 180.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in China peaked at 11.5% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 1.9%, in 2016.
That places China 97th 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 | 11.5% | — |
| 2001 | 9.0% | -21.7% |
| 2002 | 7.2% | -20.0% |
| 2003 | 6.2% | -13.9% |
| 2004 | 6.1% | -1.6% |
| 2005 | 6.7% | +9.8% |
| 2006 | 7.6% | +13.4% |
| 2007 | 8.0% | +5.3% |
| 2008 | 7.6% | -5.0% |
| 2009 | 7.0% | -7.9% |
| 2010 | 6.4% | -8.6% |
| 2011 | 5.6% | -12.5% |
| 2012 | 4.4% | -21.4% |
| 2013 | 3.2% | -27.3% |
| 2014 | 2.4% | -25.0% |
| 2015 | 2.0% | -16.7% |
| 2016 | 1.9% | -5.0% |
| 2017 | 2.0% | +5.3% |
| 2018 | 2.6% | +30.0% |
| 2019 | 3.6% | +38.5% |
| 2020 | 4.7% | +30.6% |
| 2021 | 5.5% | +17.0% |
| 2022 | 5.7% | +3.6% |
| 2023 | 5.6% | -1.8% |
| 2024 | 5.7% | +1.8% |
| 2025 | 5.6% | -1.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 7.7% | 6.1% | 11.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.4% | 1.9% | 6.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.5% | 4.7% | 5.7% | 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 5.6% 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 11.5% 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 1.9% in 2016.
- How does China rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age?
- China ranks 97th 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 180.0%. 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, female (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