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 35.9% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
35.9%
Change on year
down 0.6%
World rank
28th
of 206 countries
All-time high
36.2%
in 2023
All-time low
14.2%
in 2000
Years of data
26
2000–2025
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Papua New Guinea, 2000–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Papua New Guinea stood at 35.9%.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.6% on the previous year and up 137.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Papua New Guinea peaked at 36.2% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 14.2%, in 2000.
Papua New Guinea ranks 28th of 206 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Papua New Guinea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 14.2% | — |
| 2001 | 14.8% | +4.2% |
| 2002 | 15.5% | +4.7% |
| 2003 | 16.3% | +5.2% |
| 2004 | 17.7% | +8.6% |
| 2005 | 19.2% | +8.5% |
| 2006 | 20.6% | +7.3% |
| 2007 | 19.8% | -3.9% |
| 2008 | 18.0% | -9.1% |
| 2009 | 17.0% | -5.6% |
| 2010 | 16.1% | -5.3% |
| 2011 | 15.6% | -3.1% |
| 2012 | 15.0% | -3.8% |
| 2013 | 14.8% | -1.3% |
| 2014 | 15.1% | +2.0% |
| 2015 | 15.1% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 20.8% | +37.7% |
| 2017 | 22.3% | +7.2% |
| 2018 | 25.0% | +12.1% |
| 2019 | 28.6% | +14.4% |
| 2020 | 32.6% | +14.0% |
| 2021 | 31.2% | -4.3% |
| 2022 | 34.2% | +9.6% |
| 2023 | 36.2% | +5.8% |
| 2024 | 36.1% | -0.3% |
| 2025 | 35.9% | -0.6% |
Papua New Guinea compared with similar countries
- Papua New Guinea's 35.9% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 15.5%, 2.3× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Papua New Guinea's 35.9% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 7.9%, 4.5× the median. (32 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 17.3% | 14.2% | 20.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 18.8% | 14.8% | 28.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 34.4% | 31.2% | 36.2% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea
- 25 Tanzania, United Republic of 37.3% compare
- 26 Mauritania 36.5% compare
- 27 Côte d'Ivoire 36.2% compare
- 28 Comoros 35.9% compare
- 30 Lebanon 35.6% compare
- 31 Benin 35.3% compare
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 35.9% 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 Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 36.2% in 2023.
- 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 14.2% in 2000.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 28th out of 206 countries with data for 2025.
- 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 137.7%. 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, male (modelled data) (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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