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 28.7% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Lesotho, 1972–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Lesotho recorded 28.7% for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in 2024. That is the highest value across all 44 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.5% on the previous year and up 205.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Lesotho peaked at 28.7% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 5.6%, in 1983.
That places Lesotho 30th out of 162 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 44 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | 23.1% | — |
| 1973 | 16.3% | -29.3% |
| 1977 | 27.2% | +66.8% |
| 1978 | 7.9% | -71.0% |
| 1979 | 9.3% | +17.5% |
| 1980 | 10.8% | +16.0% |
| 1981 | 10.1% | -5.7% |
| 1982 | 9.5% | -6.7% |
| 1983 | 5.6% | -40.6% |
| 1984 | 13.9% | +147.6% |
| 1985 | 9.7% | -30.6% |
| 1986 | 13.5% | +39.5% |
| 1991 | 10.0% | -25.7% |
| 1992 | 12.0% | +19.5% |
| 1993 | 16.9% | +41.0% |
| 1994 | 17.1% | +1.1% |
| 1996 | 17.7% | +3.8% |
| 1998 | 21.8% | +23.1% |
| 1999 | 17.7% | -18.9% |
| 2000 | 22.0% | +24.6% |
| 2001 | 20.6% | -6.5% |
| 2002 | 20.0% | -2.9% |
| 2003 | 15.8% | -21.3% |
| 2004 | 14.4% | -8.6% |
| 2005 | 10.6% | -26.1% |
| 2006 | 9.3% | -12.4% |
| 2007 | 12.0% | +28.7% |
| 2008 | 10.7% | -10.8% |
| 2009 | 7.8% | -27.2% |
| 2010 | 7.2% | -8.2% |
| 2011 | 7.6% | +6.6% |
| 2012 | 9.4% | +23.0% |
| 2013 | 8.3% | -11.0% |
| 2014 | 9.4% | +12.6% |
| 2015 | 12.5% | +33.2% |
| 2016 | 16.4% | +30.8% |
| 2017 | 15.0% | -8.6% |
| 2018 | 18.4% | +23.2% |
| 2019 | 19.1% | +3.4% |
| 2020 | 21.9% | +15.0% |
| 2021 | 24.4% | +11.1% |
| 2022 | 26.7% | +9.5% |
| 2023 | 28.0% | +4.9% |
| 2024 | 28.7% | +2.5% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 28.7% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 12.9%, 2.2× the median. (39 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 28.7% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 28.7%, 1.0× the median. (35 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Lesotho changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | +147.6% | 5.6% | 13.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 16.8% | 7.9% | 27.2% | 5 |
| 1980s | 10.4% | 5.6% | 13.9% | 7 |
| 1990s | 16.2% | 10.0% | 21.8% | 7 |
| 2000s | 14.3% | 7.8% | 22.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 12.3% | 7.2% | 19.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 25.9% | 21.9% | 28.7% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
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 28.7% in 2024, 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 28.7% in 2024.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.6% in 1983.
- How does Lesotho rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age?
- Lesotho ranks 30th out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
- 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 205.7%. 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, female (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 44 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release