Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age was 3.2% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Costa Rica, 2000–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Costa Rica stood at 3.2%. That is the lowest value across all 26 years on record.
The figure is down 3.0% on the previous year and down 61.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Costa Rica peaked at 14.3% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 3.2%, in 2025.
That places Costa Rica 128th 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 Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 14.3% | — |
| 2001 | 13.5% | -5.6% |
| 2002 | 12.2% | -9.6% |
| 2003 | 10.9% | -10.7% |
| 2004 | 9.8% | -10.1% |
| 2005 | 9.0% | -8.2% |
| 2006 | 8.4% | -6.7% |
| 2007 | 8.1% | -3.6% |
| 2008 | 8.0% | -1.2% |
| 2009 | 7.7% | -3.7% |
| 2010 | 8.2% | +6.5% |
| 2011 | 8.7% | +6.1% |
| 2012 | 9.1% | +4.6% |
| 2013 | 9.3% | +2.2% |
| 2014 | 9.0% | -3.2% |
| 2015 | 8.2% | -8.9% |
| 2016 | 7.1% | -13.4% |
| 2017 | 6.3% | -11.3% |
| 2018 | 5.8% | -7.9% |
| 2019 | 5.5% | -5.2% |
| 2020 | 5.2% | -5.5% |
| 2021 | 4.8% | -7.7% |
| 2022 | 4.3% | -10.4% |
| 2023 | 3.7% | -14.0% |
| 2024 | 3.3% | -10.8% |
| 2025 | 3.2% | -3.0% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 3.2% is above the median for high income countries, which is 1.2%, 2.6× the median. (72 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 3.2% is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 7.2%, 44% of the median. (39 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 10.2% | 7.7% | 14.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 7.7% | 5.5% | 9.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.1% | 3.2% | 5.2% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
- 126 Algeria 3.4% compare
- 127 United States of America 3.3% compare
- 128 Kazakhstan 3.2% compare
- 130 Cayman Islands 3.1% compare
- 130 Malta 3.1% compare
More education data for Costa Rica
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 37,015 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 14,772 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 62,694 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 61,047 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 464,490 (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 460,126 (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -3.03 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0897 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Costa Rica?
- Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Costa Rica was 3.2% 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 Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 14.3% in 2000.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.2% in 2025.
- How does Costa Rica rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age?
- Costa Rica ranks 128th out of 206 countries with data for 2025.
- Is out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 61.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Costa Rica 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, male (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