Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in South Africa
South Africa: Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age was 13.2% in 2018. ▲ Rising
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in South Africa, 1994–2018
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2018, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in South Africa stood at 13.2%.
That represents a change of down 40.1% on the previous year and up 71.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in South Africa peaked at 22.0% in 2017 and was at its lowest, 7.7%, in 2005.
That places South Africa 42nd out of 134 countries with data for 2018, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 10 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in South Africa, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 11.8% | — |
| 1999 | 11.8% | +0.7% |
| 2000 | 13.6% | +14.8% |
| 2001 | 15.3% | +12.7% |
| 2002 | 14.2% | -7.6% |
| 2003 | 12.1% | -14.8% |
| 2004 | 9.3% | -22.5% |
| 2005 | 7.7% | -17.6% |
| 2017 | 22.0% | +185.8% |
| 2018 | 13.2% | -40.1% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 13.2% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 7.3%, 1.8× the median. (37 countries reporting)
- South Africa's 13.2% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 26.6%, 50% of the median. (26 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 11.8% | 11.8% | 11.8% | 2 |
| 2000s | 12.0% | 7.7% | 15.3% | 6 |
| 2010s | 17.6% | 13.2% | 22.0% | 2 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More education data for South Africa
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 181,739 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 339,638 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 410,708 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 407,696 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 5.50 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 7.52 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -1.44 % change on previous year (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.119 units per person (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in South Africa?
- Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in South Africa was 13.2% in 2018, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 22.0% in 2017.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.7% in 2005.
- How does South Africa rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age?
- South Africa ranks 42nd out of 134 countries with data for 2018.
- Is out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 71.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Africa 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.
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CSV · JSON — 10 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Number of females of official lower secondary school age who are not enrolled in lower secondary school expressed as a percentage of the female population of official lower secondary school age.